


Finding My Place | Jasper Hale

by Hedwig36



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Fanfic, Fanfiction, OC, twilight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hedwig36/pseuds/Hedwig36
Summary: Kira Swan was often not associated with her younger sister, Bella Swan. After a massive fight between Kira and her parents three years ago, Kira had chosen to leave behind the life she had known, and instead attend a boarding school, cutting all contact with her family. However, a massive infestation causes the school to shut down, and Kira to return to her parents and the life she left behind. Being forced to attend a tiny high school with her sister, as well as sharing an even smaller house with both her father and her sister, how will Kira cope? Will someone come into her life, and help her reunite and reconstruct the bonds between herself with her family?---This book is also published on Quotev and Wattpad, so if you are more comfortable with either of those sites, please feel free to check it out there too.---OC x Jasper HaleEverything belongs to Stephenie Meyer except for Kira and parts of the plot that I insert myself
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale, Jasper Hale/Original Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. Homecoming

**Homecoming**

Kira stared straight ahead, refusing to look out the window at the view of the clouds, and the ground getting further away. Her fear of heights and planes had only been one reason that she had not made the trip back to Forks in over three years though. Right before Kira had left for her first year, she and Charlie Swan had gotten into an argument. Bella had tried to convince him to take her to California instead of coming to Forks, and Charlie had agreed, despite knowing that Kira would be unable to make the flight due to her fear. Kira had refused to answer any of their calls since, and after a while they had stopped trying. After the first year, Kira had made a point to block all of Charlie and Bella's numbers, and spend each summer with her school friends rather than returning to Forks.

This would be Kira's first time back in Forks, and if you asked her, she would tell you without hesitation that it was not what she wanted. She had made that quite clear to Charlie, but with Bella also moving in with him, her mother travelling with Phil, and her school being closed for the next few months due to an infestation, Kira had not been given another option. She was to be sent back to Forks to move in with Charlie and Bella, while attending the local high school.

Kira had not been on a plane since her initial trip to school three years ago, and she was very unamused by this flight. She was scared out of her wits, an nothing any of the flight attends could say could get her to calm down. As soon as the plane touched down and the doors were open, Kira made a point to be the first one off and grabbing her luggage.

Kira made her way outside of the airport, and spotted Charlie, but instead of saying anything, she just brushed past him to put her bags in the trunk of his cop car. Kira hated riding in Charlie's car, but it didn't seem like she had an option in this situation. As she climbed into the passenger seat and Charlie climbed into the driver's side, Kira began to feel even more uncomfortable. Enclosed spaces were fine. Enclosed spaces with Charlie were a totally different story. Anyone miles away could feel the awkwardness radiating off of the car between the two.

A few times throughout the drive, Charlie had tried to say something, but every time Kira either ignored , or gave a small gesture to show that she didn't want him to speak. As soon as their car pulled up at the familiar house, Kira saw Bella open the door and come wait outside for her. Kira opened up her car door and grabbed her bags from the trunk, before walking past Charlie and Bella, and into the house to her room.

Since Kira had last been here, Charlie had built an extension onto the house so that Bella and Kira could each have their own rooms. When they were younger, the sisters had shared a room, but since they had grown older, their mother had taken Bella to Phoenix, while Kira had decided to stay with Charlie.

Kira dropped all of her bags on the floor of her room, before moving to lay on her bed. Charlie hadn't changed anything since she had last been here, and Kira was thankful that he hadn't been going through her stuff. As Kira was laying on her bed thinking, it seemed that she had fallen into a quiet sleep, only to be woken a couple hours later by Charlie.

"Kira, we're going out to dinner," Charlie said. "I know you don't want to go, but you need to eat." He said after Kira didn't move.

She heaved a sigh, before glancing over at Charlie and nodding her head, allowing him to see that he understood and could leave. Kira quickly cleaned up before heading downstairs to meet Charlie and Bella, before heading off to dinner.

Dinner was awkward to say the least. About halfway through, some of Bella's school friends that she had made in the first couple days of being there, saw her eating in the diner with us through the window and had decided to come in and say hi. Bella had introduced me to them and then they left, but they all seemed really loud and outgoing, whereas I could be that way, but only in a familiar situation, with familiar people. I didn't feel nearly comfortable enough to be that outgoing with anyone in Forks yet though, even though I had known Charlie and Bella my whole life, it felt like I was just meeting them for the first time.

As soon as we left the diner and returned home, I ran up to my room, once again ignoring Bella and Charlie. I went over and sat down at my computer so that I could message my friends at school to tell them all about my first day in Forks. They were the only ones that I truly felt I could behave like myself around, and they seemed to understand my whole situation, and my side of things better than anyone. I missed them so much, and I fell asleep that night well into early morning talking to them.

**Hi Guys!!! I already have this story written on both Quotev and Wattpad, but I have recently signed up for Archive of Our Own, and am very excited to share this story here as well! I will be posting the next chapters of this story, twice a week, until all of the chapters are finished. Thanks for checking out this story, and I hope you will continue reading! This chapter was 900 words.**


	2. First Day Jitters

**First Day Jitters**

_BAM_

Kira jolted awake to a massive sound ringing throughout the house from downstairs. She was about to go back to sleep, hoping it was Charlie dropping something as usual, but when she lay her head back down it happened again.

_BAM BAM BAM_

She couldn't take it anymore. She jumped out of bed and stomped downstairs, about to give this person a piece of her mind, but stopped abruptly when she saw the one and only Jacob Black in her kitchen, a smashed mug and bowl laying on the floor. 

Jacob Black had been the only person that Kira had left on good terms with, and they managed to keep it that way throughout the duration of her time away, always messaging and video chatting whenever they got the chance. Kira let out a small squeal of delight before jumping into his arms.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him once she had gotten out a new mug and poured some coffee in it, and sat down at the table. 

Bella and Charlie were both in the living room, having left to give the two of them some privacy to talk.

"I wanted to see you before you went to school. I haven't seen you in three years!" Jacob said, to which Kira laughed and gave him another small hug. This had been the longest conversation that she had had since arriving in Forks, and she was thoroughly enjoying it. She knew that even if school was bust, she'd still have one friend nearby, and that would be enough to get her through the majority of her senior year.

Starting senior year a few weeks late was pretty bad, but Kira figured it would be okay seeing as Bella had already made her entrance about a week ago when she first arrived, so everyone would probably be over the excitement of a new student and would leave her alone. 

Kira made plans with Jacob for after school quickly before checking the time and realizing that she was going to be late if she didn't leave soon. Kira remembered the perks of boarding school of always being close to her classes, meaning that she was almost never late.

Kira was well aware that Bella was waiting for her outside, as she would be driving both of them to school, so she quickly ran upstairs and got dressed in some simple clothes, black jeans, a knitted sweater as it was cold in Forks, and her red converse. As Kira ran out the door and into Bella's truck, she grabbed her jacket as it was very likely that it would start raining later that day, as it always did in Forks.

The drive to Forks High School was a quiet one, neither sister wishing to start up a conversation, aware that it would likely end in a fight between the two of them, but as they neared the entrance of the school, Bella broke the silence.

"Would you like to sit with my friends and I at lunch today?" She asked.

Kira nodded gratefully, knowing that even if her and her sister didn't get along well, she would still appreciate having somewhere to sit until she could find somewhere else. When they pulled up at the school, Kira noticed that Bella tried to cut the noisy engine of her car as quickly as she could so that it wouldn't draw to much attention and for this she was thankful.

Bella and Kira both got out of the truck, and before another word was exchanged between the two, Bella's eyes snapped to a group of people standing on the other side of the parking lot, near a silver Volvo. 

"He's back." She whispered, before being pulled out of her trance by one of her friends that Kira met at the diner. Bella quickly said goodbye to Kira before running over to her friends, leaving Kira by herself. 

She heaved a sigh before turning to follow her sister into the building to find the main office, so that she could gather her schedule and sign in. As Kira walked up the school steps, her concentration elsewhere due to the text from one of her school friends that she had just received, Kira bumped into someone, the force knocking her backwards. Kira felt herself falling backwards, arms flailing as her feet lost their grip on the stairs and she began to fall down them, when she felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her upwards, holding her arm until she regained balance. 

Heart racing, Kira looked up into the most amazing golden brown eyes she had ever seen. The person she had bumped into was about 6'3" with honey blond hair and extremely pale skin. Kira looked down at his hand on her arm, only now realizing how cold it felt, before feeling a small shiver down her spine. 

Seeming to notice this, Jasper suddenly let go of her, and walked away, back to the others he was standing with originally. Kira gave him one last glance, intrigued by his odd behavior and looks, before calming her racing heart and moving past the crowds, through he school doors, and to the office. She received her schedule and continued through the halls in search of her first class.

First period droned on, as if it would never end. Kira hated English class, and had never been any good at it, but she still managed to keep her marks at a decent level. This school seemed to be behind though, as at Kira's old school they had already completed all of the assignments he was handing out, the previous year.

The bell ringed, signalling the end of first period, and as Kira walked through the halls, she couldn't seem to find her second period class. The bell rang, signalling the start of class, only causing Kira more frustration as she realized that she was walking down the same hallway, in this tiny building.

Just as she was about to give up, Kira felt a tap on her shoulder, spinning around to reveal the boy from earlier, who she had crashed into. He looked at her quickly, before speaking in a low voice, 

"Do you need any help?"

Kira bit her lip, giving a final glance at the empty hallway before sighing and nodding her head. She showed him her schedule, which he took, before nodding and smiling.

"We have the same class. Come let me show you the way." he said as he handed Kira back her schedule and heading down the hallway that Kira had just come from. She sighed once more before hurrying to catch up with the boy's long strides. When they finally reached the class, he left her at the doorway before going to say something to the teacher, to which the teacher looked over at Kira. The boy went and sat in a seat at the back of the classroom, while Kira walked up to the teacher to show him her schedule and get her slip signed.

The teacher nodded. "You may take the seat in the back next to Mr. Hale. Mr. Hale please raise your hand for Ms. Swan." the teacher, Mr, Myron said before turning back to the board. Kira could feel the classes eyes on her as they whispered about how there was another new student, related to Bella, but Kira just kept her eyes on the back of the room, trying to ignore the whispers. She noticed the boy from earlier had risen his hand, meaning he was the one she was supposed to sit with. 

She gave him a small smile as she sat down, to which he returned by introducing himself. "I'm Jasper." the boy said.

"Kira." Kira returned with another small smile.

Though they hadn't quite gotten off on the proper foot, Kira felt that there was potentially for something with Jasper, she just didn't know what yet. Throughout the rest of the class, Kira could feel Jasper watching her, setting her off a little bit. She didn't understand what he was looking at and it aggravated her that every time she tried to look at him he'd look away or pretend he wasn't looking at her. Somehow though, every time Kira felt herself getting a bit aggravated, she felt a wave of calm wash over her, unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Normally by now, after this much staring, she would have ignored the half of her telling her to stay quiet, and she would have flat out asked him what was wrong. But that didn't happen. Instead she walked out of class feeling calmer than she did when she walked into class.

As Kira gathered her books and began the journey to look for her next class, she felt Jasper standing behind her. She turned around once she was finished, to raise an eyebrow at him to ask if he needed anything.

Jasper seemed to get the message because he cleared his throat before asking, "Do you need any help finding your next class?"

Kira looked down at her schedule to find that she had phys ed., which she already knew was located in the gym in the other building. Kira shook her head but smiled at Jasper. "I think I know where it is. Thanks though." Kira said before rushing to the gym, knowing she was going to be late if she didn't.

Third period passed uneventfully for Kira as they were just instructed to run laps for the majority of the period. Unlike Bella, Kira was good at sports. She was on her old school's track team before it closed. 

Finally, it was time for lunch. Kira lined up and grabbed an apple and some salad before making her way through the maze of tables to find Bella and her friends. Kira hadn't really interacted with anyone throughout the morning, so she didn't have anyone else to sit with. As she passed by the table with Jasper and his group, she sent a small smile his way, which he returned. Jasper having been the only person Kira had actually spoken to so far today, it felt nice to have the reassurance that he was there. 

Kira found Bella sitting with the people she had met at the diner, and a few others. She sat down and after Bella had introduced them all, they turned their focus back to their own conversations. Kira didn't mind the lack of conversation directed her way, and instead listened to brief snippets of their conversation while observing the other students in the cafeteria. They were talking about a trip to La Push, and had asked Kira if she wanted to join, to which she replied that she'd think about it. Jacob lived in La Push so maybe if she made this trip, she could see him again.

As Kira looked around, she couldn't help but notice that her gaze always strayed back to Jasper, who in turn hadn't stopped staring at her. She heard a voice, and turned her head towards Jessica, one of Bella's friends.

"Those are the Cullens," she said. "There's Edward, Emmett and Alice Cullen and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They were all adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen."

"Why didn't Jasper and Rosalie take their last name like everyone else?" Bella asked, having joined the conversation. The change in direction to the Cullens must have piqued her interest.

This time Angela was the one that answered. "Rosalie and Jasper are siblings. I guess they did it to make it less confusing because Rosalie and Emmett are dating."

Jessica interrupted, "That's weird isn't it? Like technically they're siblings."

"We've been over this Jessica," Angela cut in. "It's not that weird."

Kira watched the Cullen's as Jessica and Angela were bickering. They all seemed amused by something, but it wouldn't be possible for them to hear their conversation from across the room, could it? Even if they were all watching them now, so there would be no other explanation. Kira kept thinking, but paused for a minute when she realized that Edward's lips had turned down from an amused grin to a worried look, leaving Kira very confused, but she decided to ignore it and head to her next class early. She only had two more periods left because her fifth period was a spare.

Fourth period passed uneventfully and her spare went quickly as Kira finished up the majority of her homework. Soon it was time to go to last period and Kira was getting excited for the end of the day as she was beginning to feel cramped in the building.

As Kira walked into her class early and handed her slip to the teacher, he pointed her to a seat he said was free near the windows. Kira sat down and pulled out her books while waiting for the rest of the class to file in. She looked up at the sound of a voice that was beginning to become all too familiar.

"Hello again." It said. Kira looked up to see none other than Jasper Hale as he set his books on the desk next to her.

Kira raised an eyebrow. "You're sitting in the seat next to me again?"

Jasper grinned before sitting down. "I guess it's just fate." he said. Kira watched him open his mouth, about to say something else, but right at that moment the teacher began talking.

Kira felt Jasper watching her again, but this time it didn't seem to bug her nearly as much. By the end of class, Kira had become accustomed to Jasper's staring.

As the final bell rang and Kira packed up her books, she turned to find Jasper waiting for her. "Can I walk you out?"

Kira nodded before both of them exited the classroom and walked to her locker. Kira quickly put away her books that she didn't need and they both turned to walk out together. 

They walked through the parking lot before stopping at Bella's truck, where Bella was waiting for Kira.

Kira turned to Jasper as they reached the car. "Thanks for walking me." She said.

Jasper smiled before saying, "See you tomorrow Kira." He turned around to walk back to his family after casting one last glance at Kira.

For the first time since she got back to Forks, Kira was excited to do something. She turned back around to face Bella, with a big smile on her face, still not quite sure about what had happened with Jasper today, but knowing that it was something good.


	3. Temper Check

**Temper Check**

The next morning at the Swan household, the residents were alarmed by the massive crash that followed the sound of the eldest sister's alarm clock. A groan was heard from Kira's bedroom and after rushing to her room, Charlie was only met with a still sleeping Kira, and the remains of the clock that had once been brand new, smashed against the wall opposite from where Kira lay. Charlie sighed, having been used to this behaviors from when he used to live with Kira. She may seem like a sweet, quiet child, but when something set her off, he often found that he temper could be almost explosive, though he had never known her to get physical with anybody. Kira knew this fact as well, and often worked to either keep her temper in check, or to find other, less stressful ways to release it.

Charlie walked towards Kira's bed cautiously, before gently shaking her awake, and leaving her to get ready for the day. Kira had been out late the night before with Jacob Black, and though they had a great time together, and their distance in the past years hadn't changed that, Kira found that Jacob and the other La Push residents had very strong opinions towards Jasper and his family.

Jacob and the others had made in quite clear to Kira that she should not be spending time with influences like him, and though she had not received the same feelings as Jacob, she had still promised to keep his words in mind, and be wary of the Cullens. 

Jacob's insistence definitely left Kira with something to think about, as she had not yet considered that they could be dangerous to her in any way, but Kira attempted to push his words to the back of her mind for as long as she could, as Kira had larger problems to focus on.

Kira did not want to stay sitting with Bella and her friends at lunch. Bella was being nice by offering Kira a spot at their table, but Kira did not want to intrude, and strain the sister's relationship further. Besides, Kira did not enjoy sitting with Bella's friends as they were all a year younger than her, and would often talk about the people and events happening in their grade, leaving Kira feeling even more out of place.

After the short ride to school in Bella's truck, Kira bid a quick goodbye, before rushing into the building, hoping to reach her locker and first class without being stopped by anybody. Not that it was likely that anybody would stop Kira, as she had really only spoken to one person the previous day, but she made it her personal goal to avoid that one person for as long as she could, Jacob's words ringing loudly in her ears. On the way into the building, Kira had noticed that the Cullens were all standing around their cars, talking, but as she turned away, she felt more than one pair of eyes following her into the building.

Kira weaved through the crowds of teenagers, all chatting with friends or going to lockers, and quickly found her own locker. As she quickly typed in the combo and opened the door to begin putting in her books, she felt the closeness of someone leaning against the locker next to hers. Kira spared a quick glance over, surprised to find Jasper standing there, watching her as she unloaded her books.

Kira tried to force a small smile, but couldn't manage to escape Jacob's words, which, despite how hard she tried, would not leave her mind.

As Kira struggled to fit her many books into the small locker, Jasper spoke, "What's your first class?"

Kira glanced over at him, surprised that he was speaking. "So he does speak," she said. "If you must know, my first period is English."

Jasper was about to open his mouth before Kira cut him off, "I need to go to class now. And so should you." Kira slammed her locker door closed and turned to walk away, but before she had made it to far, she felt Jasper walking beside her. She looked at his out of the corner of her eye, but after seeing him watching her, decided to keep her mouth shut, and continue her journey to class. As Kira turned into her class, she felt Jasper stop and stand by the doorway as she made her way to her seat, only moving once she was sitting down and had started getting her books out.

Kira felt relieved that Jasper was no longer watching her, and instead turned to her seat partner, hoping that she could at least make one real friends while she spent her time here.

By the end of the class, Kira had discovered that her partner's name was Alyssa, Lyssa for short. She enjoyed music and books, and had offered to show Kira around the library and music rooms during lunch. Kira, having been looking for a way out of lunch in the cafeteria had instantly agreed, and after trading numbers and schedules, finding out that they sadly only had English together, Kira and Lyssa departed from English class, saying farewell until lunch period.

Kira made her way to second period. In the past, she had often enjoyed math, but was beginning to become annoyed and aggravated due to Jasper's constant staring, and the teacher constantly calling on her to answer questions about problems that she had learned how to solve many times throughout her previous schooling years.

Finally Kira found it unbearable. She raised her hand to be excused to the restroom so that she could get away from his stares and hopefully calm the anger beginning to brew inside of her. Kira entered the washrooms, thankful to find them empty, and proceeded to rinse her face under the sink. She waited for a couple more minutes, before finally feeling calm enough to return to class. She had been on a short fuse all day today due to the lack of sleep and the impending tasks she would have to complete after school. Getting a new clock being one of them.

As Kira walked back into class, she once again felt Jasper's eyes on her, but instead of getting aggravated again, she felt calmer than she'd felt since she got on that plane back to Forks. Kira sighed in content, before sitting through the rest of second and third period, incident free.

By lunch, the magic calm from second period had begun to wear off, but it still left Kira feeling infinitely calmer than she would have otherwise been. Kira met up with Lyssa and they began touring the school. Lyssa led them to the library, where she was able to show Kira all of the best places to spend her spare periods, and where all of the bests chairs and tables were in the room. Lyssa even introduced Kira to the librarian, who seemed very kind, unlike what Kira would have managed.

Next, Lyssa showed Kira to the music room. Kira had always enjoyed music, as she had been brought up playing guitar and piano, and she had been forced to choose a brass or woodwind instrument to play at her old school, leaving Kira to wonder if there was any possibility that she could spend her lunches in here, rather than in the cafeteria.

After a few more minutes in the music room, Lyssa received a phone call, letting her know that she was needed elsewhere. After Kira had promised her that she would be fine on her own, Lyssa left, leaving Kira by herself in the large room. 

Not knowing what else to do, but knowing that she definitely did not want to return to the cafeteria today, Kira sat down on the piano's bench, and began to play a simple tune that she had learned in her early days of lessons. Kira soon found herself lost in the music. She often found that in the past, playing helped her calm her temper, but after she had left Forks, it seemed that Charlie had sold her piano in order to make room for Bella's stuff.

As Kira played away her worries, not once thinking about Jacob and his warnings or Jasper and his strange family, she did not sense the strange presence, until he made himself known to her by sitting on the bench next to her. This small action causing Kira to jump, and let out a small scream of fright.

Kira glanced over at the person, recognizing him as Jasper, before quickly jumping off the bench and away from him. The large room did not feel quite as large with Jasper in it with her, and Kira was beginning to feel stressed. At this sudden emotion, Jasper frowned, as if he could sense this, but was unaware why his presence would cause Kira such stress. Regardless, Kira felt the same calming presence wash over her as she had earlier, and instantly calmed down.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, still not totally calm with the idea of being along with just him. It was fine when they were in a classroom with other students, but just the two of them was a different story.

Jasper seemed to sigh, before responding, "I came to check on you. You weren't in the cafeteria, and I was worried."

Kira felt her anger bubble up once again at his words. "What makes you think that I need you to check on me?" she burst out, feeling the anger flowing though her. "I've been taking care of my self for the past three years! I don't need some guy who I just met, and who I barely know coming to check up on me!" Kira yelled, putting quotes around the words "check up on me". No amount of calming that Jasper could do, could settle Kira's anger, and before he could take another step towards her, Kira yelled out, "No! Don't come any closer! And don't follow me either!" and with that, Kira turned and ran out of the music room.

Jasper began to follow her, but soon realized that following her would only make his situation worse as she was already very mad at him. He didn't understand why his powers had stopped working on her, but as he watched her run out of the school doors, he figured that, although he didn't like the idea, it was best if he let her deal with her anger on her own. He had struck a nerve, and Kira already being on a tight string, had only lost control of her emotions.

Jasper turned around and headed back to the cafeteria for the remainder of lunch, hoping that Kira would return for their shared fourth period.

As Kira ran out of the building, she looked around for anywhere she could go where she wouldn't be found. After she blew up at Jasper, she knew she had to be on her own for a while. Kira's gaze immediately fell upon the forest, whose border landed right next to the school. She quickly ran into the forest, running for as long and as fast as she could. Kira knew she had to run off some of the anger before she could return.

Kira ran for what felt like minutes, her anger slowly disappearing, but just as she was about to stop and take note of her surroundings, Kira felt her ankle getting caught on the root of a nearby tree. The speed at which she had been running, causing her to hear a snap and collapse on the ground. Kira felt the pain radiating from her ankle, and knew without even looking at it that it was bad. She grabbed at her phone, trying to find it to call somebody, but quickly realized that when she had run out of the school, she had left not just her backpack, but her phone and all her other belongings with it.

The sun was quickly setting and Kira had no way to call anyone for help. Running was completely out of the options as Kira had barely been able to haul herself away from the ground and lean against a tree trunk. 

Kira knew she had made a stupid and irrational choice by running into the forrest without a plan or course of action, but that was often what seemed to happen when Kira lost control of her anger. Although she regretted her decisions and knew that she had to do something to get herself out of this mess, Kira could not bring herself to try to stand up. She had no clue which was was out, it was getting dark outside and she could barely see anything around her, and Kira felt to drained to move.

As the night turned even darker, Kira felt her vision turn darker too, the pain from her ankle taking over her senses and mind. As Kira was about to pass out, she heard shouting in the distance. she was able to make out the sound of faint footsteps through the blood pumping in her ears, and as her eyes closed for the final time tonight, she felt cold hands reaching out to pick her up, and a voice shouting to the others, before she felt herself completely lose conscious and pass out. A feeling of calm washing over her as she said goodnight.


	4. Secrets & Share Time

**Secrets & Share Time**

_Beep_

_Beep Beep Beep_

_Beep_. Kira felt her eyes snap open. The beeping sound coming from somewhere inside of the room she was in, jolting her into a conscious state. As Kira's eyes began to open further, she glanced around at her surroundings, suddenly aware that she was not in her bedroom.

Kira continued looking around, determining that she was in a hospital room, but was still confused as to how she had ended up here. Kira tried to concentrate on her previous memories, but all she could feel was a fuzzy blanket covering her mind. Kira took a deep breath, hoping to calm her racing heart and make sense of her situation, but was distracted by the beeping that refused to stop.

Glancing in the direction that the beeping was coming from, Kira realized that it was a medical machine, with a tube attached to her arm. Alarmed and without thinking further about her actions, Kira pulled the tube out of her arm, causing the machine to let a high pitched long beep. Kira jumped at the sudden noise, but before she could do anything else, a man in a white coat lab coat rushed in.

As the man glanced at Kira, he seemed to sigh in relief, before walking slowly over to her. "Kira," he said. "You are in the hospital. I have been looking after you here. My name is Dr. Cullen."

Kira, who had been staring at the man as he spoke, suddenly felt her eyes widen and heart begin to beat faster, adrenaline once again rushing through her entire body. She recognized Dr. Cullen as Jasper's adoptive father, and her mishap with Jasper had led to her being suspicious of not just him, but his whole family as well.

Kira felt her body moving her out of the bed that she had previously been laying on, but before she had fully gotten out of the bed, she felt her legs get tangled in the sheets wrapped around her body. Kira felt herself falling towards the ground, and a scream left her body. As Kira landed on the ground, she felt a shooting pain from her leg, causing another scream to leave her mouth.

Kira felt her body struggling against the sheets, trying to free herself, her panicked state unaware that Jasper had also entered the room, and was watching her struggling with a concerned look on his face.

Kira managed to untangle herself from the sheets and balance against the wall. The pain from her leg had not gone away, and when she glanced down at it, she realized that the pain was due to the large cast that covered her whole leg from the knee down. Kira, still cautious of Dr. Cullen, glanced back up, only to be met by the striking eyes of Jasper Hale. Kira was unsure what he was doing here, but the situations that her head was presenting her with caused her heart to race, and an unsteady feeling to course through her body. Kira once again felt frightened due to the man in front of her.

As Jasper took a step towards her, to help her sit back on the bed, Kira felt her body lurch forward, trying to run past Jasper and out of the door. Only, Kira was too slow. Before she had even made it halfway to the door from her corner of the room, she ended up in Jasper's arms. Kira could feel his muscles, even though he was not nearly as bulky as his adoptive brother Emmett, and she could feel him restraining her from getting any further away.

Kira continued to try to escape Jasper's grasp, and her lack of success only seemed to aggravate her more. As Kira got more and more worked up, struggling and hitting at Jasper in order to get free, she suddenly felt the same strong sense of calmness wash over her.

Before Kira could comprehend what she was doing, she turned towards Jasper, screaming, "What are you doing to me? How are you messing with my emotions? Stop it! Stop messing with me!" Kira turned away from him, holding her head, trying to fight off the sense of calm that was threatening to overcome her, but before she could continue fighting, she no longer felt that she had any anger or aggravation to use to fight Jasper.

Kira, somewhat dulled by her lack of ammunition, allowed herself to be carefully led back towards the hospital bed, still quietly muttering to Jasper, "What are you doing? Please stop. Please." Kira could see that her words were having an effect on Jasper, as he loosened his grip on her slightly, but not enough for Kira to escape again.

Jasper sat Kira on the bed next to himself, so he was still able to restrain her. Kira felt him wrapping his arms around her, while also taking her wrists in a firm but comfortable hold, so that she could no longer continue to fight him. Not that Kira wanted to fight him anymore. She had felt all of her fight leave her body once Jasper had held her. It was as if he had drained her of her anger, and instead replaced it with that calm sensation that Kira only received when she was near him.

Kira looked up in time to see Dr. Cullen slowly approaching her and Jasper, cautious of whether or not Kira would freak out again. He looked at her, and said in a calm voice, "Kira. I'm going to examine your leg to see if it received anymore damage."

Kira blushed, knowing that the possible damage he was referring to was due to her stunt when she had first woken up, but nodded regardless.

As Dr. Cullen checked her leg, he talked to Kira. "It seems that you broke your leg. Do you have any recollection of how this happened?" Dr. Cullen asked.

Kira glanced at Jasper, but only received a nod, as if to say that it was okay. Kira felt relieved, and glanced back towards Dr. Cullen. She shook her head, before saying, "I don't remember much." Kira's memories had begun to return since she had been awake, but she still did not have a clear picture as to what had happened. "I remember leaving the school and running into the forest. Then I tripped on a root or something and fell down." she spoke. "That's all I remember before waking up here."

Kira sighed. She was annoyed that she couldn't remember anything more helpful for the doctor, but Dr. Cullen smiled regardless. "Luckily, nothing seems to have changed. You will have to stay here for a few more days, but then you can return home and to school."

Dr. Cullen smiled once more, before turning and leaving Kira in the room alone with Jasper. Kira tried to turn to look at him, but before she could say anything, she felt herself getting increasingly sleepy. She felt her eyes shutting slowly, and fell asleep laying next to Jasper.

Kira spent the next few days in the hospital with Jasper. He had refused to leave her alone, but she assumed that at night when she fell asleep, he had gone out to get something to eat. During the time she spent with Jasper, she had begun to relax around him.

He made sure that she was always eating her meals, no matter how gross the hospital food was, and he kept her entertained. Some days it felt as if they talked for hours, whereas other days they just sat together, enjoying each others company. Kira had begun to open up to Jasper about her life and her problems. Jasper had convinced her to share more of her life with him, but she still didn't feel totally comfortable telling him everything, as it seemed that often times she was the only one sharing.

After a week of staying in the hospital, Dr. Cullen ran some final tests, before telling Kira that she could leave. Jasper drove her home, promising that he would drive her to school again the next day. Kira smiled, before walking inside. It was as if she hadn't even been gone. She walked in, and Charlie was watching baseball, while Bella had gone out with her friends to La Push for dress shopping. 

Kira felt aggravated, but reminded herself that she needed to keep a cool head unless she wanted to end up back in the hospital. She walked past Charlie and up to her bedroom, ignoring him as he did to her. Kira could spare no words to him.

She was once again reminded of why she chose to leave Forks to begin with. It wasn't just because Charlie had chosen Bella over Kira to spend summer vacation with, that had just been the cherry on top. Charlie and Renee had often chosen their youngest daughter over their eldest. At the beginning of her life, Kira had not noticed the difference in the way she was treated as opposed to Bella, but as she grew older it became clear. Renee had chosen to leave Forks with Bella, Renee never wanted Kira to visit her in Phoenix, only Bella. Charlie had bought Bella a truck when she moved to Forks with him, Kira had never received a gift even close to the size of that, or the thought he put into that gift.

Kira had been treated like less by both her parents her whole life, but she felt as if there was nothing she could do about it. As soon as she turned eighteen, Kira planned to move far away from both of her parents, hoping that she could stay out of their life, as it seemed that that was what they wanted.

Kira hadn't told anyone this though. Nobody knew how she felt, and she planned to keep it that way.


	5. Make You Own Decisions

**Make You Own Decisions**

Kira had spent the remainder if the week in her room, avoiding any contact with everyone. She took her meals in her room so that she did not have to sit through an agonizing meal with both her father and her sister, and she had elected to skip school, telling them that she did not yet feel well enough to go back. 

Although Kira had not often been one to skip school, she did not feel up to having everyone staring at her as she walked through the halls, as "the one who got herself lost in the woods". To say she was embarrassed would be being generous. Kira was terrified of what they were going to say, but knew she had to go back eventually, and Charlie had decided that he could not take her moping around the house for another day.

Kira knew that she was going to have to go back eventually, but since she had left the hospital, she had barely received any sleep. Nightmares seemed to plague her dreams whenever she closed her eyes, so most nights Kira had just decided it would be easier not to sleep, the deep bags underneath her eyes proving this. Although she had never been one to receive constant nightmares, Kira had no clue on how to deal with them. Often times she would find herself back in the forest, only this time nobody had come to rescue her. She found herself trapped, screaming for help but nobody came to her aid. Those nights that she did manage to find herself asleep, Kira would wake up after just a few short hours, drenched in sweat and screaming, waking up the whole house.

Charlie and Bella no longer were able to deal with her night terrors, and though they did not say anything directly to her, Kira knew that Charlie spent most nights on the couch, awake and watching the television, unable to fall asleep due to her screams, and Bella had spent quite a few nights at her school friend's houses. Kira felt bad, which is why some nights she chose not to sleep at all, but tonight she could not help it. She was exhausted having not slept the previous night and could no longer control her eyes as they began to droop shut.

_Kira heard her words to Jasper ringing in her ears, but there was nothing she could do to take them back. She felt her body moving quickly towards the forest, but was unable to stop it. She hears her head screaming to her body to stop, knowing that she shouldn't be going into the forest, but she is no longer in control. Her head will not listen to her body._

_Suddenly her view switches. She sees herself on the forest flow, tears streaming down her face. She screams, but no one is able to hear her. She is unable to move, rooted to the spot. She sits there for such a long time, she feels herself losing track of the hours, when she hears familiar voices._

_Charlie and Bella's voices ring through the silent forest, and Kira calls out to them, her voice strained due to the hours she had previously spent screaming for help. Kira watches as Charlie and Bella walk through the forest, directly past her, so close that she could touch her. But they do not notice Kira. They walk past her without even glancing at her, as they continue through the forest, despite Kira's pleads for them to help her._

_Kira feels herself lose hope, about to give up when suddenly she sees another person walking through the forest, towards her. Kira feels the hope begin to swell inside her again as she recognizes it as Jasper, but as he begins to walk closer, Kira realizes that there is something off about him. Replacing his usual honey coloured eyes, are bright blood red eyes, piercing through Kira. As he grins at her, Kira feels herself become more frightened, as she can't help but notice the fangs that appear in his mouth as he gives her a toothy smile._

_Kira feels Jasper advancing towards her, and as he seems to be upon her, her screams of fright echoing throughout the empty forest,_

Kira jolted awake, her screams echoing back to her from the four walls creating her bedroom. She glanced over at her new clock, displaying the time 4:00 am. Kira sighed. She had slept for the longest yet, since she had been released from the hospital, but she was quickly reminded that she still had to go back to school in a few hours.

Kira got up, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep again, and got dressed and showered. She went downstairs, brushing out her long brown hair, and brewed some coffee to take with her to school, knowing that that was the only way she would be able to make it through the agonizing day ahead of her. 

The rest of the Swan household began to venture out of their bedrooms and downstairs to leave the house in anticipation of the day ahead of them. Kira watched as Bella walked past her and out the door, heading towards the silver Volvo that Kira recognized as belonging to Edward Cullen. Bella handed Kira the keys to her truck, telling her to drive herself to school, before jumping into the car with Edward, leaving Kira to make her own way to school.

Kira did not mind finding her own way to school, as the long ride with Bella would have felt infinitely slower due to recent events. Kira had her driver's licence, but never had a car of her own to drive. She headed towards Bella's truck, got in, and started the engine before driving to school.

Kira stepped out of the truck, feeling all eyes on her. The students of Forks High School seemed to have noticed her absence, and were definitely commenting on her return, and how she was arriving without Bella. Kira, not wanting to draw more attention to herself than necessary, put her head down and began to make her way to the school doors, just like she had on her first day here. Only, Kira thought bitterly, this time everybody already knew who she was, and what she had done a few days prior.

Although Dr. Cullen had released Kira from the hospital, she had been strictly ordered to use crutches, although Kira had definitely protested. She did not like the idea of making a big show by entering each class, and needing to find some place to balance her crutches, and making sure nobody tripped over her or the crutches. 

Kira figured that, even though Dr. Cullen had ordered her to use them, she had been practicing walking without, and had gotten pretty good considering the circumstances. She brought them with her to school because Charlie had been watching her, but had decided to leave them in the back of Bella's truck. What they didn't know, wouldn't hurt them, Kira thought as she made her way to her first class.

As Kira continued limping to class, she felt a familiar presence next to her. One which she had become accustomed to in the past two weeks, but was become increasingly wary of once more due to her nightmares the previous week.

Regardless, she looked up at Jasper, and gave him a small smile. Jasper returned her smile with one of his own, before speaking. "Shouldn't you be using crutches?" he asked.

Kira just shrugged before she began limping away from him faster. She did not feel like she needed him questioning her about her decisions. 

"Kira," Jasper said. He put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from getting any further away from him. "Where are your crutches? You need to use them unless you want to injure yourself further."

Kira felt herself rolling her eyes, before she brushed Jasper's hand off of her shoulder. She didn't have time for him to obsess over her "safety".

Jasper called over her shoulder. "We're not done talking about this!" but Kira only brushed it off before responding,

"Yes we are."

She heard Jasper sigh, but refused to look back at him as she made her way to her first period class, the sound of his footsteps retreating away from her causing Kira to sigh in relief.

Kira continued through first period uneventfully. She ignored all of the looks and stares that were directed her way, and followed the professors instruction. Although it wasn't exactly how she wished the day would go, it was still turning out better than she expected. Kira began to feel that maybe she had been freaking out over nothing. The day was going fine, and nobody had approached her, making fun of her to her face. 

Leaving her first period class, Kira made her way to second period. She shared this period with Jasper, but as she walked in, she did not see him here yet. She knew that Jasper was never late to class, and seeing as Kira had barely made it on time, she was confused as to what he was doing. As Kira mulled this over, she did not realize Jasper walking into the class until he was standing right next to her.

"It looks like you forgot something in your truck." Jasper said with a smirk. As Kira looked over at him, her jaw dropped when she noticed her two crutches in his hands.

"What are you doing with those?" Kira asked, trying to keep her voice low, while also attempting to convey her anger to Jasper. "Did you go through my stuff?"

Jasper only continued to smirk, before saying, "You're going to use these crutches whether you like it or not. And I'm going to make sure of it."

Jasper set down the crutches next to Kira before moving past her to his seat. Kira turned towards him, about to bite back, but before she could say anything else, the teacher started talking. Kira, needing to get in the last word, said in a light whisper, "We're going to talk about this later."

Jasper only gave her one last smile before turning to look back at the teacher, who had begun to hand out an assignment to the class.

"This assignment is worth 15% of your final grade, so I suggest you all work extra hard on it. It will require work time spent outside of school to finish it." The teacher said after explaining the assignment. It didn't seem that hard to Kira, but it had a lot of different elements that would require a lot of her time.

"Oh and I forgot to mention," The teacher continued. "This assignment will be done in partners."

Kira felt her blood run cold when the teacher said this. She had not bothered to get to know anybody in this class other than Jasper, and there was no way she was going to be partnering with him after he went through her truck.

Kira felt Jasper glance over at her, before asking if she wanted to be partners. Kira shook her head, eyes frantically searching the classroom for any other person that didn't seem to have a partner yet, but was unable to find anybody.

Jasper, sensing that there was nobody else and Kira would be forced to partner with him smiled as she turned back towards him. "So... partners?" Jasper asked once again. Kira only rolled her eyes, before nodding reluctantly. 

She watched as Jasper excitedly held his hand up for a high five, but Kira only stared at it. She was about to turn back to the assignment list, ignoring Jasper, until she felt a wave of excitement passing through her body. She gave a small smile, before giving Jasper a high five.

Kira and Jasper both turned towards the assignment together. After sitting in an awkward silence for a few minutes, Kira turned to Jasper. "So, when do you want to work on the assignment?" she asked. "We could do it at my house."

Jasper watched her before shaking his head. "No. We should do it at my house. I'll drive you tomorrow after school. Is that okay?"

Kira was shocked at Jasper's blunt reply, but nodded her head anyways. Although Dr. Cullen had seemed nice enough when she had met him, the rest of Jasper's family made Kira nervous. But even if she wanted to disagree, Jasper hadn't left her with much room for her to argue. 

The period ended, and Jasper promised her that if he found out she wasn't using her crutches again, he wouldn't leave her side until her cast got taken off, so that he could make sure that she was always using them. Throughout the next period, Kira felt her thoughts occupied by none other than Jasper Hale. He seemed to only want what was best for her, and she felt happy at this thought. He was the first person that she thought had felt that way in a long time, and for that Kira was grateful. 

By the time lunch came around, Kira was less concerned with being back at school. She walked into the cafeteria to find Lyssa so that hopefully the two of them could eat together, but before she could take another step, she flet a cold hand wrap around her arm.

Kira turned, only to find Alice Cullen standing there gripping her arm. "Come sit with us." Alice said, before all but dragging Kira towards the Cullen's table. As Kira sat down in between Alice and Jasper, she noticed Edward and Rosalie giving Alice pointed looks. They looked annoyed by Kira's presence, and Kira couldn't help but feel annoyed at Alice for forcing her to sit with them as well, but before anybody could voice any of these thoughts out loud, Emmett interrupted the silence.

"So Kira, how are you liking Forks?" 

Kira took a moment to think of her answer before responding, "It's fine. It hasn't changed at all since I left though."

The lunch with the Cullen's continued on like this, with Emmett or one of the other Cullen's asking Kira a question and Kira responding to the best of her ability. by the end of lunch, Kira found herself enjoying lunch with the Cullens. She was having fun, and didn't even notice the rest of the students of Forks High School staring at her with envious eyes. Most of all, her younger sister Bella.


	6. Project Unfinished

**Project Unfinished**

After school the next day, Kira found herself at home getting ready to go over to Jasper's house in order to work on their assignment. She felt nervous, but was more overcome with excitement. Her day had gone great. The night before, she had received the best sleep since she had left the hospital. It felt almost as if the same feeling of calm she got when Jasper was around had appeared in her bedroom, causing her to sleep without the nightmares that seemed to haunt her.

Kira found herself smiling as she had walked down the stairs that morning, and had even made and ate an actual breakfast before school. She happily went to school and enjoyed another lunch filled with fun chatting and talking with the Cullens. Kira felt that she was even starting to become friends with some of them, and just the thought of new friends here in Forks made Kira's heart swell.

Kira found herself lost in thought, as she sat waiting for Jasper to come pick her up. She had originally told him that she could drive herself if he gave her the address, but he had insisted that she would have a hard time finding it and that it would be better if he just drove her to avoid conflict. Kira had agreed, and Jasper was supposed to arrive to pick her up in twenty minutes.

As Kira ran around the house, trying to gather everything she would need to bring with her to the Cullen's house, she heard Bella come up behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bella asked her, a disgusted look on her face.

Kira only smiled, not wanting to let Bella dampen her mood. "I'm going to Jasper Hale's house. I should be home before it gets too late."

She could feel Bella glaring at her, but refused to acknowledge the stare, until Bella said, "You can't do that. Jacob has told me bad things about them. If you go, I'm going to tell dad."

Kira only shrugged in response. She was used to Bella trying to take things away from her, but Jasper was one thing she was not yet willing to give up on. Kira heard Bella's footsteps retreating up the stairs and she let out a sigh of relief. Bella wasn't going to disrupt her any longer. Kira continued getting ready, until she heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"What's this I hear about you hanging out with the wrong crowd?" She heard Charlie ask. Kira sighed. She had dealt with enough of Bella's drama since she moved back here, and wasn't sure how much more of it she could take.

"They're the Cullen family dad." Kira said. "They're not bad influences. I've been eating lunch with them the past couple days, and their adoptive father is Dr. Cullen, the doctor who took care of me at the hospital."

Charlie looked convinced, and was about to turn around and walk away before Bella whispered something to him that Kira could not hear. This seemed to change Charlie's mind and he turned back towards Kira. "I still don't feel comfortable with this. I want you to stay home."

Kira opened her mouth to protest, but was instead interrupted by a knock on the door. She moved to open it, and revealed Jasper. Kira, once again, opened her mouth to tell Jasper that, much to her annoyance, she had been forbidden from going over to his house to work on their project, but was interrupted again, this time by Jasper.

"Mr. Swan," Jasper said, in a calm voice. "Kira and I must work on a school project together. I can assure you that nothing else will be happening, and that nobody in my family has any intention of pushing any bad habits that we may have onto your daughter."

Charlie seemed satisfied by this, and much to Bella's dismay, nodded for the two of them to leave. Kira smiled at Jasper before quickly grabbing her back and moving with him out of the house.

As the two of them climbed into Jasper's car and drove to the Cullen's estate, they exchanged friendly conversation, with Kira continuously apologizing for her father. She was embarrassed that he had caused a scene, but grateful to Jasper for stepping in and handling the situation for her.

After what felt like no time, the car had pulled up to the Cullen's house. Kira got out of the car, and after looking up at the house, felt her jaw drop. The Cullens lived in a massive house with lots of windows and lighting. It seemed very open concept, and even though it seemed to be in the middle of a forest clearing, Kira found that she was amazed by just looking at the outside of the house.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Kira noticed Jasper smiling at her, watching her reaction. When Kira sent him a questioning glance though, he only laughed before motioning her inside of the house. The inside was even more amazing. The view was astonishing and all of the decorations seemed as if they weren't from this time. They were an exact contrast of what the outside of the house looked like, but Kira felt that the two suited each other well.

Jasper led Kira through a series of hallways before stopping in an open living room area. In this area, the Cullen family sat. Kira recognized all of the members of the family except for one woman, but assumed that she must be Mrs. Cullen as she was the last member of the family that Kira had yet to meet.

All of the Cullens stood up as Jasper and Kira entered the room, and one by one re-introduced themselves. When it was Esme's turn, she stood up and embraced Kira in a hug. "It's so nice to meet you." Esme said.

Kira nodded. "It's nice to meet you too."

After Kira and the Cullens talked for a little while longer, Jasper stood up. "I think we should get working on our project Kira." he said. "Otherwise you'll have to come over again." Jasper added with a wink.

At that, Kira stood up and followed Jasper out of the room. He led her to another room and told her to wait there while he went to get some supplies.

Kira too this time to look around the room she was in. It seemed as if it was Jasper's room, but there was no bed or anywhere for him to sleep. Kira assumed that maybe he slept in another room, and continued to examine the room she was in. It had a couch, and a large bookshelf seeming to keep a variety of really old books that looked like they belonged in a museum, and newer books, but still not very recent. After scanning some of the titles and realizing that there were none that she would recognize. Kira noticed a shelf with a variety of CDs, as well as a desk. Kira also noticed a large cabinet, but Kira could not tell what Jasper would keep in it. Although she was curious, Kira figured that she had already snooped to far, and would get caught if she continued.

She sat down on the couch, and moments later Jasper walked in with their supplies. Kira and Jasper worked for a few hours, chatting and talking throughout. 

Kira enjoyed Jasper's company. He had a calming presence around him, and whenever she was around him, she felt calm as well. She did not feel anxious around him, and felt that she could finally be herself. She felt closer to Jasper after the few days that she had known him, than she did with Charlie, Bella, or anybody else in her family.

As the time seemed to creep by, Kira felt herself begin to get hungry, until she felt her stumble let out a loud grumble. Her cheeks burned, as she looked up at Jasper, who had begun laughing. Kira gently smacked him on his arm, but he didn't even seem to notice, and soon Kira was laughing as well. Jasper's laugh was infectious, and Kira enjoyed hearing it.

After a few minutes of the two of them laughing, Jasper stood up. "Come on," he said. "Let's go get you some dinner, and then we can come back and finish."

Kira nodded, and together they walked out of the house. Jasper drove the two of them towards the diner that Charlie always took Bella and Kira to when they were children and they sat down together. Kira found herself enjoying her dinner with Jasper. They made happy, light conversation, and the time passed far too quickly than Kira thought possible. 

The only time throughout the whole meal that there was an audible pause, without one of them filling the gap with talking or laughing was when Kira noticed that Jasper wasn't eating anything. She had voiced this concern to Jasper, but he had just brushed her off, telling her that he wasn't hungry. Kira felt that this was strange as she tried to recall a time that she had actually seen him eat, but Jasper quickly tried to change the topic.

It seemed to Kira that Jasper was trying to hide something from her, but decided to let it go seeing as questioning it further, may push Jasper away. As Kira's only real friend in Forks so far, Kira did not want to risk anything regarding her and Jasper's relationship.

As Kira was finishing her meal, still talking and laughing with Jasper, she heard the bell connected to the diner's door ring, signalling that somebody had come in. Kira looked over Jasper's shoulder, at the door, only to feel her body go stalk skill.

Jasper, sensing her shift in mood, turned around as well, noticing that it was Kira's dad and sister who had entered the diner. Jasper's attention shifted back to Kira and said, "Hey, it's okay. We can leave now if you want."

Kira nodded, her eyes not leaving her father and sister, while Jasper called the waitress over to ask for the check. After quickly paying and getting out of the diner, Kira finally let out the large breath that she had been holding.

Jasper led her back to his car, and they quickly made their way back to his house. They went back to his room, and continued to work on their project, forgetting about the incident in the diner completely. 

They worked for at least an hour, putting the final touched on their project. It looked perfect, and Kira felt very proud of her work on it. She grabbed the assignment sheet, to look it over once more, to double check to make sure they had completed everything, but as she grabbed the sheet, she felt it slice her finger. 

Kira looked at her finger. She had given herself a paper cut. It wasn't the worst she had gotten, but it was worst than some, and was bleeding quite a bit. Kira looked up to Jasper, to tell him that she was going to go to the restroom to wash it off, but when she looked up, what she saw wasn't Jasper.

It looked like Jasper, but this person had pitch black eyes, rather than his usual honey coloured eyes, and it had a feral vibe surrounding him. Kira felt alarmed. She stood up, and quickly ran out of Jasper's room, away from the creature that seemed to have taken his place. She ran through the maze of halls, trying to find a way out, or one of the other Cullens, but instead first found a bathroom. She ran inside, making sure that the door was shut firmly, and locked so that nobody could get in. 

She had heard the Jasper-like creature chasing after her as he ran, letting out an animal-like snarl the whole time, and now she heard him outside of the washroom that she was currently in. She pushed herself into the far corner, as far away from the door as possible.

She must have only been sitting there for a few seconds, before she heard a large crash, and the sound of Edward yelling. "Jasper!" he said. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kira knew that Edward had not been anywhere close to her in the house, as she had not seen him or anyone else, as she was running through the house and away from Jasper. There was no way Edward could have come to her rescue so quickly.

Kira heard another couple of crashes, until she heard the sound of Jasper's feral snarls disappearing. She could hear the sound of footsteps heading towards the door she was hiding behind, and Carlisle knocked on the door.

"Kira. Please come out. We have some things that we must discuss."


	7. Missing

**Missing**

Jasper couldn't control himself. He had been able to keep himself in control around Kira, and from the moment he met her, he hadn't felt his thirst at all. He had been so consumed by her, he had been completely ignoring all other emotions and urges that he normally received.

Maybe, Jasper thought, that was why he had been unable to control himself when Kira had cut her finger. He couldn't remember the last time he had fed, and the amazing smell of her blood had sent his urges into overdrive, unable to think about anything else.

Of course, it was only natural that Kira's blood smelt even better to Jasper. He could feel that she was meant to be his mate. Her and only her had consumed his thoughts since she had first come to Forks High School, and he knew that she was the only thing that would ever consume his thoughts for the rest of his never-ending life.

Thankfully though, the thought of hurting Jasper's mate had been slightly stronger in controlling his actions then the thirst side. Jasper had been able to control himself enough to slow his pace down, allowing Kira just enough time to reach the bathroom, and lock herself in before Jasper got there. 

Edward had also come to Jasper's rescue. As Jasper felt himself about to knock down the door, his lack of blood the past few days driving him to do things he never would have done, Edward had knocked him to the side. Jasper felt Edward distracting him by fighting him, slowly moving the fight towards the door, until Jasper found himself standing outside, slightly calming down at the lack of blood near him.

He felt Edward lead him into the forest, before forcing him to go out and hunt. Jasper reluctantly looked towards the house once more, before going out and finding the first deer he could. He quickly chased and killed it, making sure he was full before running back towards where Edward was standing, outside of the house. 

Edward looked Jasper over, checking to make sure that he would not attack Kira again, before sighing and gesturing for Jasper to follow him inside.

"We need to get you cleaned up if we want to talk this through with Kira." Edward said with another sigh.

Jasper nodded, and followed Edward into the kitchen, where he proceeded to clean himself up and wash the blood off of his face. Then, he went to his room and changed into a fresh shirt.

As Jasper waited downstairs for Carlisle to bring Kira down to explain what had just happened, Jasper felt himself tune into their conversation through the bathroom door.

"I'm not coming out!" Jasper heard Kira shout.

"Please, Kira, let us explain what just happened." Carlisle tried to reason.

"No! I'm not coming out! I'm not going to stay here with some monster who tried to kill me!"

Jasper felt his heart sink. His mood instantly darkening. The rest of his family, sensing his mood change, instantly shot him sympathetic looks. But Jasper didn't want their sympathy. His mate. His one and only mate. Thought he was a monster.

He knew he would have to explain to Kira what he was eventually, or that he might slip up once or twice, but he didn't expect it to happen this quickly. Kira was just starting to trust him, and now he had blown it. There was no way he could regain her trust again, and he was scared that he had lost her forever.

"Kira? Kira? Please speak to me." Jasper tuned back into Carlisle and Kira's conversation to hear Carlisle trying to call back out to her.

When Kira didn't respond, Jasper began to get worried, causing everybody in the room to get worried as well. Jasper quickly rushed up the stairs, trying to smell Kira's delicious scent through the door, but her scent was not as strong as it normally was. 

Jasper, thinking that something had happened to her, busted down the door with one strong hit. He heard Carlisle try to tell him to leave the door alone, but Jasper couldn't. His overwhelming urge to protect Kira and ensure her safety was greater than his common sense.

As the bathroom door fell to the ground, Jasper felt his eyes widen. Nobody was inside the room. The open window the only indication of where Kira could have gone. Jasper raced over to the window, but he was on the second floor of the house. Kira would have had to jump out of the window, and there was almost no way that she would have been able to make it without hurting anything.

Even with Jasper's elevated sense of sight, he could not see Kira. She had managed to get out of the window, make her way down from a second story window, and get very far away from the house, without anybody realizing until now.

Jasper felt anxious. His mate could be anywhere, and she had most likely run into the forest. Her leg was still broken and in a cast, and she did not know the forest well. Although Jasper was worried for her safety, he was also angry. Angry at himself that he had lost control, and angry that he had scared Kira away.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Carlisle, but before he could say anything, Jasper jumped through the window.

He spent the remainder of that night, searching all of Forks to try to find Kira, but ended up coming home that night empty-handed.

Throughout the rest of that week, Jasper did not see Kira at all. He had gone over to her house, but both Charlie and Bella Swan had said that they had not seen Kira since she had gone over to the Cullen's house. Kira had not shown up to school either, and Jasper could not smell her or sense her nearby. Even Edward could not find her in any of the minds of the people at Forks High School.

Kira had simply vanished from Forks, and his lack of knowledge of her whereabouts was causing him to go insane. He couldn't bring himself to attend school anymore, except for the classes that he and Kira shared, hoping that maybe he would see her there, and that she was coming back.

Jasper had even brought himself to ask Kira's friends that he saw her sitting with on her first day, which he knew as Jessica, Angela, Mike, and Eric. They had seemed very excited that he was speaking to them, but they had unfortunately not seen or heard anything from Kira for a long time.

After all of this, Jasper only had one hope left, and he cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier. Jasper had seen Kira interacting with a girl name Lyssa in their grade. They had the same third period, and when they got to class, Jasper asked her if she had heard anything from Kira.

Lyssa had looked hesitant when he had asked her this. She seemed to be nervous, glancing around and whipping her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans. She looked back up at Jasper, before quickly shaking her head and turning back to the teacher.

Jasper could tell that she was nervous, and was not telling him the full truth. Later that day, at lunch Jasper spoke with Edward. He needed Edward to read Lyssa's mind in order to find out where Kira was, and he would not rest until he found out.


	8. Dreams or Nightmares

**Dreams or Nightmares**

Kira had jumped through the window. At first she hadn't wanted to, but the sounds of Edward fighting Jasper, and Carlisle trying to coax her out of the bathroom, had pushed her to do it. So, while ignoring her fear of heights, Kira had jumped out of the window. 

She knew it would be a long fall, but what nobody knew was at her boarding school, she had spent a lot of time with her friends in the forest behind the school. They had often dared each other to climb the trees, or climb some of the larger rocks and hills. Kira had gotten quite good at scaling trees, when she had the motivation to ignore her fear. Often her and her friends would place bets on who could climb the highest, and Kira was always determined to win.

So when Kira had spotted the tree within jumping distance from the window, she hadn't hesitated. She knew it was risky, and she might not even make the jump, but he had gone for it anyways, preferring it to the other option.

With one last shout to Carlisle, Kira jumped out of the window. She quickly scaled down the tree, trying not to make any noticeable sounds, that would let the Cullens know that she had left. She didn't want them following her. They had originally seemed very nice, but now that she had seen who Jasper truly was, she did not feel that she could trust the family anymore.

Kira had run into the forest with no sense of direction or plan. She knew it was a bad idea, and that she was only repeating her previous mistakes, but she also knew that if she had gone around to the front of the house to take the path back to the road, she would definitely be spotted by at least one of the Cullens. So Kira continued on through the forest.

She walked until she could barely feel her legs anymore, but continued to push herself nonetheless. At one point in her walk, Kira thought she heard something rustling the bushes near her, but brushed it off as probably a small animal running away from her presence. Kira continued on her trip, without incident, until she saw a flash of fur. The rustling from the animal had continued throughout her trek, but only now was Kira seeing this animal. She couldn't get a good look, but from the glimpse that she got, she realized that it was a very large animal. Larger than anything she had ever seen before.

Before Kira could react to the animal though, it had disappeared. Kira let out a sigh of relief, but was still on high alert. She wasn't sure why the animal hadn't attacked her, but knew that she should be grateful, and try to get out of this forest as soon as possible. 

Kira walked for at least another twenty minutes. All of her surroundings looked the same, Kira couldn't tell if she was getting any closer to home, or if she was just walking in circles. As Kira was about to give up, the sky already turned dark a long time ago, she heard another noise. This time though, instead of an animal, a guy about her age walked out from behind a tree. 

He was extremely tan, with large muscles, that could only come from a lot of weight lifting or steroids. This guy was very tall, at least a foot taller than Kira, and he wasn't wearing any clothes, other than a pair of shorts. Kira looked down, feeling herself blush at the realization that he was almost naked, but he didn't seem nearly as amused.

"What are you doing out here at this time?" He had asked her, sounding annoyed.

Kira had just looked up at him. She didn't want to tell anybody about what had happened with Jasper, and she couldn't think of any other plausible reason for her to be in the middle of the forest, late at night. 

She only shrugged, before smirking up at him. "What are _you_ doing out here at this time?" She asked.

This only seemed to make the guy mad, his expression contorting into one of anger, scaring Kira a few steps backwards. But, before this guy could do anything to harm Kira, another guy stepped out from the trees in which Kira had seen the guy come from. 

He seemed to notice the guys anger, and yelled at him to cool down, before turning to Kira. "What's your name?" He asked her, to which Kira responded. "Come on." He spoke once again. "Let's get you out of the forest."

With that, the guy turned around, motioning for Kira to follow him, which Kira gladly did, happy to finally have a way out of here.

Kira followed the two guys for a few minutes, before they arrived at La Push. Kira sighed in relief at the familiar surroundings, before turning to the boys. "Thank you so much for the help." She said, before turning to leave. Kira figured that her house would be the first place that the Cullens would look for her, so she was going to see if she could stay with Jacob and his father. 

When she was younger, Kira would often spend the night with the Blacks, a she hoped that even though it was late at night, they might let her spend a few nights at there house.

Before she left, the boys had confirmed that Kira had a place to go, and they had seemed satisfied with her answer. So with that, Kira had turned in the direction of Jacob's house, and the boys had gone back into the forest. She hadn't even gotten their names, but she was thankful that they had led her out of the forest.

As Kira reached Jacob's house, she knocked on the door. After the first few knocks though, Jacob had come to the door. 

He had seemed surprised to see her, but after hearing how desperate she sounded for a place to stay, he had gone and asked Billy Black, his father, and they had made up a bed for her on their couch. The Blacks had been more than accommodating of her situation, and though Jacob continuously asked Kira about what had happened, Kira had refused to tell him.

After all, Jacob had seemed happy that Kira was just staying with them.

Billy had told Kira that she could stay as long as she wanted, but by the end of the week, Kira had begun to feel that she was taking advantage of their hospitality. She had told Billy that during the day she had been going to school, but she could tell that he didn't believe her. She didn't blame him either, considering she had been lying. She felt bad about lying to the person who was treating her so kindly, but Kira couldn't force herself to go to school where she would have to see Jasper again. Instead, she spent her days wandering around the reserve, specifically at La Push beach.

She had seen the boys who had saved her from the forest a few times, and had begun to spend more time with them, despite Jacob's warnings that they were all in a gang, and had dropped out of high school to take steroids.

Kira thought that Jacob's imagination was just running wild though. His story seemed to crazy to be true, and even if they were taking steroids, they seemed way to nice from the time she had spent with them, to be in a gang.

Although Kira had enjoyed spending time with Billy and Jacob, by the second week, Billy had received a phone call from Charlie. Apparently Charlie had told Billy that Kira was missing, and that she wasn't answering her cell phone. He had told Billy that he was worried for Kira, and that everybody whom he had already called had said that they did not know where she was. Apparently he had even launched a police investigation into her disappearance.

Unfortunately for Kira, Billy had told Charlie that she had been staying with them. He had also apologized to him, saying that he did not know that she did not have permission to be there, otherwise he would have contacted sooner.

Kira had known this time would come, as she had been purposely ignoring all of Charlie's calls and texts. She did have her phone on her, as she had been using it to text Lyssa, but she had elected to block all of the other numbers. Especially the unknown numbers that started to call her after her first week in La Push.

Charlie had come to pick up Kira within the hour. Kira had already apologized to both Billy and Jacob, saying that she was going through a rough patch, and wasn't sure if she could go home. They seemed to understand her, and had told her that it was okay, and that if she ever needed someplace to stay, she would be welcome back, as long as she had permission from her father first. Kira had been very happy to hear this response, and that she was leaving the blacks on good terms.

Her father though, she did not seem to be on very good terms with. He had come to pick her up, and they had both sat through a very silent car ride back to their house, with the promise that they would "talk about it later".

Kira was dreading this talk, knowing that it was probably going to be bad. Charlie usually tried to avoid scolding his daughters and raising his voice at them, but he knew that this situation called for a long sit-down talk.

As soon as they got home, Kira felt Charlie guiding her into their living room, and sitting her down on the couch, before going to stand in front of her. He gave her a long speech about how she shouldn't wander off without letting him know where she was, and how she shouldn't skip school and everything else. Kira was half-listening, but she got the general idea of what Charlie was trying to tell her, and figured that was enough.

Near the end of his speech though, long after Kira had stopped listening, Charlie said something that caught her attention. "I was worried about you."

These were the words Kira wanted to hear from Charlie. The words she had been waiting to hear, but hadn't thought she ever would. Kira got up and went to hug Charlie. This action surprised Charlie, but he was glad that his daughter was once again showing him affection. He had missed her old self, and this new, cold persona had not felt the same.

Few words were exchanged between the two for the rest of the night, but both went to sleep that night satisfied with their progress, and happy about where their relationship was headed.

Kira fell asleep quickly, tired from her lack of sleep the past couple nights. Although she was very happy that she was staying with Billy and Jacob, their couch had not been very comfortable, and it seemed as if Kira's nightmares had returned. Only, this time, with the addition of Jasper chasing her through the Cullen's house. 

These nightmares scared Kira. She knew that she could no longer trust Jasper or the Cullens, but these nightmares were refusing to let her forget the incident and move on. In fact, Kira often found herself waking up most nights in the early morning, sweaty and panicked. It had become her daily routine to wake up at about two in the morning, and go to grab a glass of water, to shake off her dreams before trying to sleep again.

This night had been no different. Kira had been sleeping, until about 2:30. She had woken up, shaking and frightened, and had been about to go down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Only today, when she sat up in bed, she was not met with the sight of her empty room. Sitting in the old armchair in the corner of the room, Kira locked eyes with the one and only Jasper Cullen.

Or so she thought. Kira had reached over to her nightstand in order to turn on the lamp, but by the time she had turned back around, there was no sign of Jasper. He had disappeared. Kira had dismissed this as just a leftover image from her nightmares, and continued to go get a glass of water, before going back to sleep.

But Kira couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than just a leftover image from her dreams, and throughout the rest of the night, Kira could fell somebody watching her.


	9. Family Over Friends

**Family Over Friends**

The next morning, Charlie took Kira to the hospital. A couple of days ago they had called to inform him that it was time for her cast to come off, so, much to Kira's delight, she took the morning off from school to go to the hospital. As soon as she had gotten there, she had requested a different doctor, which they had obliged to. Kira was not in the mood to see Dr. Cullen anytime soon, maybe even never.

By lunchtime, Kira found herself back at school. She had missed so much school since she had arrived in Forks, but their schools were much further behind then she had been at her old school. She had already studied everything that they were currently studying, so Kira did not feel the need to catch up on any of the lessons she had missed, only planning to make up a couple of the tests that had happened while she was away.

Kira made sure she took her time walking into the school, trying to drag it out so that she did not have to go to the cafeteria and face Jasper and the Cullens. She walked through the school doors, and after making sure that most of the students were already at the cafeteria, made her way to her locker. 

Kira finished at her locker quickly, and went to her first period after lunch early. That period and the next went by quickly and uneventfully. Kira hadn't seen any of the Cullens yet, as she did not have any other classes with them, and for that she was grateful. 

Kira hurried to her next class, wanting to get there early to see the teacher. She got there before everyone else and walked up to the teacher. Kira asked him to switch seats. She didn't want to sit next to Jasper anymore, and she was desperate to switch seats. Her teacher seemed to notice her desperation though, and let her switch to a seat a couple of desks away from Jasper.

With a deep sigh of relief, Kira went to sit down in her new seat, watching as the rest of the class filed in and took their seats. The last person to walk in was the person she was dreading the most. Jasper walked in, his eyes going straight to his desk, looking for Kira. When he saw that she was not sitting there, his shoulders immediately dropped. Jasper begrudgingly went over to sit in his seat, before he stopped halfway to his desk.

Kira could see Jasper sniffing the air, and then, as if he could smell her, his head snapped in Kira's direction. Kira, feeling self conscious at his continuous never-ending stare, turned her head back towards the front of the classroom.

Throughout the rest of the class, Kira sat like this. Staring intently at the teacher, while she could feel Jasper's stare burning holes in the side of her head. But still, Kira refused to look at him. She found it hard to focus on the teacher and what the rest of the class was talking about, but Kira did not want to acknowledge Jasper.

She knew it was unreasonable to avoid him for the rest of her time at Forks High School, but Kira figured that she might as well try. There was no way that she was going to be going near him again, and she had already decided that she was going to go to the school's office later that day to try and get her second and last periods changed, so she would no longer have to see Jasper anytime but at lunch.

When the bell rang, Kira already had all of her books packed. She stood up, and all but ran out of the classroom, seeing Jasper beginning to try and follow her. Kira quickly weaved her way through the crowded hallways, managing to lose Jasper on her way to the office.

She walked into the small room, and was greeted with a red-haired woman wearing glasses. She looked up upon Kira's entrance, before smiling kindly at her. "What can I do for you, dear?" The lady asked.

Kira gave the lady a small smile in return, before asking if she could switch her classes. She handed her schedule over to the lady as asked, but as the lady was examining the schedule, Jasper entered the office. Kira refused to look at him, but she knew that it was him from the way the atmosphere of the office seemed to change as he walked in. All of a sudden Kira felt herself concerned for no reason, while also feeling relieved. Kira wasn't sure why she felt liek this, but she thought that maybe it had something to do with how Jasper managed to change her emotions and make her feel calm whenever she was near him. Jasper stayed by the office doors, waiting for Kira to finish.

After a few minutes of the lady looking over her schedule and checking something on her computer, she turned to Kira. "I'm sorry sweetie. There's nothing I can do. All of the classes at those times are full. Will you be okay?"

Kira bit her lip, a habit she had when she was nervous, before nodding hesitantly. There was nothing that she could do and Kira knew that, but she still didn't _want_ to spend that time with Jasper.

Kira turned to exit the office, only to see Jasper standing there, blocking her exit. She walked up to him before saying, "Move."

Jasper only shook his head at her rudeness. He stepped out of the way, opening the office door for her, but when Kira made a move to run down the hall away from him, he caught her arm. Jasper stopped Kira from moving any further away from him, before slowly guiding her to her locker.

"We need to talk," He said. "You need to let me explain."

Kira only shook her head. " _I_ don't need to do anything." She said, emphasizing the 'I'. " _You_ need to leave me alone."

Jasper only sighed, before tugging her away from her locker after she had finished. He still hadn't let go of her arm.

"You need to come to my house so I can explain. I won't let go of your arm until you do."

Kira started tugging her arm, trying to get it free, but Jasper had a stone grip. His hand would not even budge, even after she had started to hit his arm, to try and let him go. "Help!" Kira heard herself screaming as they entered the parking lot, but almost everyone had already left. Kira hadn't realized how much time she had spent in the office and at her locker, but it had been enough time for all of the Forks students to leave.

Only the Cullens were left. They stood there, watching Kira struggling and screaming for help, but they didn't move from their spots by their cars as Jasper dragged Kira over at a steady pace.

Kira was about to give up. The only people left, were on Jasper's side. They were dangerous, and would protect one of their own. 

"Hey!" Kira and the rest of the Cullen's heads all turned towards the source of the sound. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of her!"

Bella.

Bella had come to Kira's rescue. Kira felt herself smiling.

Bella walked over to them, before pushing Jasper away from Kira, making him lose his grip on her arm in surprise. Bella then proceeded to tug Kira over to her truck, that Kira realized Bella had been pulling out in, as it was almost already out of the parking lot.

Both Bella and Kira got in the car, leaving a stunned family behind them, before Bella quickly drove off, before any of them came to their senses and tried to catch them.

Kira turned to her sister. "Thank you." she said sincerely.

Bella glanced over at her, before shooting her a smile. "Anytime."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, driving towards their house. They pulled into the driveway, but neither made any move to get out of the truck. Finally, they both opened their mouths.

"Listen-"

"I-"

Both sisters started speaking at the same time. They both stopped and stared at each other for a minute, before laughing. When they had both settled down, Kira motioned for Bella to speak first.

"I know I haven't been the best sister." she started. "When we were younger, I felt like I had to prove myself that I could be as good as you at everything. I looked up to you, and I wanted to follow your example, but I think as I grew up it became more of a competition then looking up to you as a role model. I began fighting you for the stuff that you should have been getting, instead of just supporting you. I'm sorry, and I promise that it won't happen anymore"

Kira felt her heart swell. She smiled at Bella, not knowing what else to do. Finally, she started speaking.

"I used to always think that mum and dad gave you all of the attention. It felt like they preferred you over me, and you always seemed to just soak up all of the attention, enjoying the spotlight and completely ignoring me. It made me resent you, and then when mom and dad started choosing you over me for stuff like living situations and vacations and stuff, it just kinda made me snap. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, and I'm sorry." Kira apologized. 

By now, both sisters were crying. They hugged, and both accepted the other's apology, before going into the house together.

That night, both sisters slept in the same room. They had decided to have a sleepover like they had when they were younger, and caught each other up on what they had been doing in the past three years. 

Kira talked about her boarding school, and about all of the friends she had made and all of the crazy things she had done there. Bella seemed interested, and asked a lot of questions about what it was like living in a dorm and being at school the whole time. Bella had told Kira all about Phoenix. The sun, and all about her life there, which Kira had questioned her about.

Both sisters stayed up together until early the next morning, talking and chatting about anything they could think of. When she finally fell asleep, Kira felt at peace. She had mended her relationship with her sister, and their future together was looking bright. 

If only she could talk things out with her dad and Jasper.


	10. Life Balance

**Life Balance**

For the next few weeks, Kira and Bella would not leave each other's sides. They ate lunch and dinners together, they drove to school together, they were inseparable. 

Of course, the Cullens didn't leave them alone. Jasper had somehow found a way to switch into two more of Kira's classes, and Alice had switched her spare to the same period as Kira's spare. They wouldn't leave the sisters alone. 

But Bella and Kira had managed to do their best to avoid the family. They always came to the other's rescue when the Cullens had managed to corner one of them. Although Kira had noticed that the Cullens seemed to be getting more and more desperate as the days passed.

That day, a few weeks after the incident, Kira was walking down the hall. She had plans to use her spare in the library to finish some homework, and that's where she was headed now. Kira sat down at one of the library tables and began to work. After a few minutes though, she heard movement across from her.

Kira looked up, her eyes catching Alice. Kira sighed, before moving to get up and find another table to sit at. Just as Kira began to stand up, she felt Alice's cold hand wrap around her arm, holding her in place. To Kira though, this action did not seem to have the same threat behind it, as many of the similar actions from the Cullens this past week had seemed to have. This made Kira freeze.

She looked at Alice from across the table, meeting her eyes, only to notice that she was standing there, unmoving. Kira watched her, standing there, her eyes unfocused, before suddenly she seemed to snap.

Alice let go of Kira's arm, gasping as she stepped back. "It's almost time." she said.

"Alice? What's going on?" Kira asked, speaking to Alice seriously for the first time in weeks.

"Kira," Alice started tugging at her arm again. "You need to come with me. We need to talk to you about everything."

Kira stopped. "No! You need to tell me what's going on right now! What do you want?"

Alice continued freaking out, pulling on Kira's arm and trying to get her out of the library, but Kira pulled her arm out of her grasp. She turned around, gathering all of her books, before brushing past Alice and back to her locker to put them away. She glanced back at Alice one more time, seeing her on the phone and talking urgently to someone on the other end, before continuing on her way.

Kira headed to her next class. She was early, but when she got there she wasn't the first one like she usually was. Jasper stood there. In the centre of the room, on the phone with someone talking urgently. When Kira entered the room, Jasper's head snapped up, a look of relief washing over his features.

He took a couple of steps towards her, his hand reaching out to grab her arm as well, but Kira quickly moved out of his way, walking towards her seat. Jasper made a move to grab Kira's arm again, but the teacher walked in a moment later. Kira, knowing that Jasper wouldn't try anything in front of the teacher, sighed in relief before shooting Jasper a look, telling him to go to his seat. 

Kira sat through the whole class, but she couldn't help but feel anxious. The Cullen's behaviour these past few weeks had been odd for them, but this seemed worse. They were freaking out with a sudden sense of urgency that Kira was not used to.

After that class, Kira managed to escape the school and make it to Bella's truck before any of the Cullen siblings could intercept her again, but she still had to wait for Bella, and Bella was no where to be seen. Kira got in the truck anyways to wait for her, closing the door behind her and sitting, looking for Bella. As Kira continued to scan the parking lot, with no sign of Bella, she heard a tap on the window. Glancing over at it, she rolled her eyes when she saw Jasper standing there, but she opened the window anyways.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"Please, Kira," he said. "We need to talk. Please just let me explain."

Kira only shook her head, letting out a small laugh. "I'm busy."

With that, Kira saw Bella coming up to the truck. "Please Kira. It's important! You don't know what's going to happen!" His voice sounded strained at the end.

Bella hopped in the truck, and with that, the sisters drove away, Jasper's words still ringing in Kira's ears.

That night, Charlie was working the night shift, so the sisters were left on their own. They came home and both went into their respective bedrooms, coming out for dinner and to se each other every few hours. Both of them going to bed late that night, but Kira did not fall asleep. Instead, she stayed up thinking about what Jasper and Alice were saying earlier.

Kira wondered what they meant by all of the stuff that they said, and she couldn't seem to get away from the nervous feeling that was building up inside of her.

Kira didn't know how long she sat there, just thinking about everything, but it must have been a few hours. Suddenly though, Kira jolted out of her position at the sound of a phone ringing. She quickly ran downstairs in order to answer it, but when she did, she felt her whole body freeze up and she dropped the phone to the ground.

Bella, waking up to the sound of the crash, came running downstairs to see what was wrong. She took in Kira's pale figure, all of the colour having drained out of her face, as she stood there, unmoving, with the phone on the ground. Realizing that the other person was still on the phone, Bella rushed to pick it up, only to hear the end of the person's sentence.

"You need to come quick. Charlie is in the hospital, and it doesn't seem like he'll have too much more time."

Bella felt the colour drain out of her own face, before grabbing Kira's wrist and dragging her out of the door, not even bothering to hang up the phone. They both got into the car, forgetting to buckle her seatbelt, Kira held onto the side of the truck as Bella slammed on the gas, pushing the old truck as fast as it would go.

They arrived at the hospital in record time, running to the front desk to ask where they could find their father. The got the room number and ran to the hospital room, dodging patients and nurses in the hallway. They found the room after a few twists and turns, slamming the door open just in time to see Dr. Cullen pulling a white sheet over their father's face.

When he heard the door open, Carlisle's head whipped around, spotting the two daughters freeze in the doorway, gazes locked on the covered figure of their father. 

"I'm sorry girls." he said. "Your father has passed."

Immediately, tears started streaming down Bella's face. She ran out of the room, a choked sob making its way out of her throat, before she was out of sight. Kira just stood there. She was unable to say anything, unable to _feel_ anything. She was numb.

"What happened?" she asked the doctor.

He paused, before answering her slowly. "It seems that it was an animal attack. Our witness says that it was about to attack him, but that your father stepped in and stopped the animal from hurting him." Carlisle glanced at her, looking for a reaction, but was instead met with a stone expression. 

The nurse stepped in here. "The witness seems to think that it was some sort of abnormal human that tried to attack him. He said that it had fangs and that it moved at an abnormally fast pace." she said, sounding almost excited, but mostly concerned. "He has been put in the mental ward for now though. Dr. Cullen seems to think that he is suffering from shock, and was envisioning things."

Carlisle seemed disappointed that the nurse had shared this information, but continued on speaking. "The important thing Kira, is that your father was a hero. He saved a man's life, and I'm sure that he was proud to give his life to save another man's."

Kira just stood there, still shocked, trying to consume all of the information that had just been shared with her. She couldn't take her eyes off of her father's body, covered in a blank white sheet.

Carlisle, seeming to sense that she needed some time, bid her goodbye before leaving the room with the nurse in tow. 

Kira took another step into the room, before collapsing into a heap on the floor, letting the tears fall as she stared at the white sheet covering her father's body. She didn't know how long she sat there for, tears streaming down her face, before she felt a pair of strong arms wrapping around her, pulling her over to the small plastic hospital chair next to the bed.

Kira looked up, seeing Jasper but not caring that it was him. She needed the support right now, and she didn't have anyone else since Bella ran out of the room. She sat in Jasper's arms for a few minutes, trying to calm down and control her emotions, but once she got one under control, the other's were uncontrollable. 

She managed to stop crying, but as soon as her sadness was gone, another emotion took over. Anger. She was angry at Jasper, she was angry the Cullens, she was angry at her father, she was angry at her mother, she was angry at Bella, she was angry at the witness, she was angry at the person or animal who attacked her father, she was angry at everything and everyone. She couldn't even explain some of the anger, but it was too much. She had to let it go, and before she knew what was happening, she had stood up, almost ripping herself out of Jasper's grip.

But Jasper held on tight. He had managed to keep a strong hold on her, standing up with her, but still not letting go. Kira felt the anger bubbling up further, and she felt a motion in her arms. Without realizing what she was doing, Kira began to hit Jasper. Hitting his chest, his arms, kicking his legs, hitting and kicking anything she could reach. Feeling her anger slowly disappearing the more she hit and kicked at Jasper.

The whole time he just stood there. Not seeming to get hurt by her or bothered by her hitting him. He just stood, unmoving and refusing to let go. He was supporting her, making sure she didn't fall to the ground again. 

Kira let out the remains of her again, before another wave of sadness came over her again, another waterfall of tears streaming down her face as she buried it in Jasper's chest, hiding her face as best as she could. Jasper didn't seem to mind though. He stood there and let her let out her anger and sadness and anything else she was feeling.

They stayed together for a long time. At some point, Kira falling asleep in Jasper's arms as he sat in the hospital room with her. Not bothered by her cuddling into his arms, or the wet tear stains that she had left on his shirt. They stayed together, unbothered for the remainder of the night, and well into the next morning before Kira woke up.

That morning was the hardest morning for Kira ever. She woke up just in time to find herself asleep in Jasper's arms. But she didn't move. She felt calmer there, and knew that he was the only thing keeping her together in that moment.

Carlisle came into the room, glancing at them one more time, before explaining that he had to take the body now. Kira nodded and with that her father was taken away. 

Jasper picked Kira up, carrying her into the wait room where her sister was waiting with Edward Cullen. She hugged her sister, talking quietly with her, before Jasper led her away from the waiting room and towards the parking lot. He helped her into his car, before getting in himself and driving her to her house. 

Once they got there, Jasper walked her to her room, helping her freshen up and get ready. Jasper and her spent the rest of the day and night with her. Bella hadn't come home yet, and Kira did not want to be alone so she was thankful to him. They just sat together, rarely talking, but still enjoying each other's company.

Kira couldn't help but think about what was coming next though.


	11. Time to Talk

**Time to Talk**

"Who was it?"

_Silence_

"I'll ask again. Who was it?"

_Silence_

"Who killed him? Who killed my father?"

_Silence_

"I know you know who did it. Why won't you just tell me?"

Kira stomped away from them, letting out a frustrated sigh. After things had settled down, she had gone over to the Cullen's house for the first time since the incident with Jasper. They had been surprised to see her at first, but when she started asking questions, they immediately looked nervous. Kira knew that they knew something about Charlie's death, and she refused to quit until she found out what happened.

She turned around once more, casting the Cullens a long look.

"I will find out. Whether you help me or not." she said with a tone of finality, before walking out the front door. Kira was determined. Something had changed within her, and she was no longer feeling upset about his death. She had buried the emotions of sadness deep down within her, and she had replaced them with determination. 

That night, Kira went home to continue researching what could have happened. Jasper was with her, as he refused to leave her in her "delicate state". But Kira didn't mind too much. Without him around, she found herself having trouble sleeping or thinking straight, without thinking about everything bad that had happened in the past couple months that she had been in Forks.

Kira looked at her computer, trying to figure out how to start this search. She had already tried this many times, but decided that she should start clean. She started typing...

_Animal attack_

_Woods_

_Forks deaths_

Nothing. Kira couldn't find anything. She had phoned the police station the day before, and they had said that they had seen a few similar cases in the past, but most were from generations ago. The lady behind the phone said that that was all of the information she could give Kira though. She had apologized for Kira's loss, before hanging up without another word, leaving Kira to think.

Suddenly though, she remembered something that she had heard Bella talking about. When she had come home from the beach weeks ago, Kira had heard Bella talking to Charlie about how she had seen Jacob there, and how he had told her a great story that was supposedly a Quileute legend. She hadn't expanded much, but Kira could have sworn that when she left the room she had heard Bella mumbling something about Edward and the rest of the Cullens.

Kira turned back to her computer, quickly typing in the words that she had heard Bella mumbling. Up came a page with a list of legends. Kira glanced over her shoulder, before getting up and locking her door so that Jasper wouldn't be able to get in.

She began reading through the legends, one by one, until she found one that seemed to fit. The name giving her chills as she looked at it.

_The Cold Ones._

They matched the Cullen's description perfectly. Reading the article, Kira felt a feeling of dread overcome her. She knew what they were. She knew what had killed Charlie.

Vampires.

That night, Kira slept with her door locked. She kept Jasper outside of her room, not allowing him in. She still needed time to process this information. She fell asleep still thinking, but feeling slightly more relieved than she had the past few nights. She finally knew what they were, and she began making plans to confront them the next day.

But despite Kira's new knowledge, it seemed that this did not bring her much comfort in her sleep.

_She was driving in a car. From the looks of it, Kira realized that it was Charlie's police cruiser. She seemed to be driving down one of the long roads that was lined with the forest. Looking into the mirror, Kira was startled to find that she looked like Charlie. That she was Charlie._

_The more aware Kira became of her surroundings, the more she wondered where she was. She was obviously in Charlie's body, but she couldn't control the body. It was like it was just her conscious in his body._

_Charlie continued to drive down the street, but not for much longer. Soon, he came across a light on the side of the road. It was a flashlight that somebody seemed to have dropped._

_Charlie stopped the cruiser, pulling over to the side of the road and getting up. He walked over to the flashlight and picked it up, but Kira was startled to discover that it held bloody_ _hand prints. Charlie shinned the light into the forest, trying to spot where the blood could have come from, but was disappointed when he saw nothing._

_Until he heard a scream from further within the forest. By the sound of it, it seemed as if it was the scream of an adolescent man. Charlie walked further into the forest, shinning the flashlight to see his path, until he came across a clearing in the woods, not too far away from the road._

_Inside the clearing stood two men. One was on the grounds, blood covering his shirt. He seemed to be wounded, and from the other man standing over him, with blood on his face, Charlie could only guess at what had happened._

_Grabbing his gun from it's holster, Charlie held it up, pointing it at the man with the blood on his face._

_"Put your hands up! You are under arrest!"_

_But the man only laughed. He smirked at Charlie, not bothering to raise his hands, before he seemed to move. Kira only guessed that he had run, but it seemed as if he had enhanced speed. He was next to Charlie, ripping the gun out of his hands, in what seemed to be less than a second._

_He stood face to face with Charlie. By now, Kira could get a better look at the man. He had black hair, and pitch black eyes. He seemed to have a stubble of a beard, and he was tall. Much taller than Charlie, probably standing at about 6'5". He looked to be in his early twenties. But the feature Kira seemed to notice most was the blood. He had blood dripping down his chin, dripping from his mouth where two fangs lay hidden, stained red from the blood._

_Before Charlie could make another move though, the man had already leaned in. His fangs piercing the fragile skin of Charlie's neck._

Kira woke up gasping for breath. The rest of her dream seemed to have been cut off, but the last thing she remembered was her sight going dark, and her whole body lighting up in a massive fire.

She got up quickly, rushing to unlock her bedroom door, finding Jasper standing there, a concerned look on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kira cut him off first.

"We need to go to your house. We need to have a talk."

Jasper nodded in understanding, already knowing what talk she meant. He was relieved that she was finally ready for it, but was slightly concerned on how it might through off the dynamic of their current relationship. Nevertheless, he escorted her to his car, before proceeding to get in and drive her to his house.

When they arrived, Kira was the first one out of the car, practically running to the door. But before she could even reach it, it was swung open by none other than Alice and Edward. They opened it for her, Alice saying a quick welcome, before they guided her to the living room, where it seemed that the rest of the Cullens and Bella were waiting for her.

Kira stood at the front of the room, Jasper following quietly behind her, standing with her in front of his family. As Kira stood there, trying to piece together what to say, most of the Cullens sat there, watching her. Edward seemed to be staring the most intently though.

Before Kira could piece together her words though, Edward spoke up. Saying the two words. All of the Cullens seeming to realize what they meant at the same time.

"She knows."

That was the spark to light the fire. Carlisle and Esme seemed to open their mouths to say something reassuring, while Rosalie burst out in a long string of cuss words, mostly directed towards Kira. Edward and Alice both seemed okay with the idea already, almost as if they already knew this would happen. Emmett was too busy trying to control Rosalie to say anything, but he did shoot Kira a supportive smile before restraining Rosalie. Jasper only put a reassuring arm around Kira, as they both watched the chaos unfold.

Finally, everything had settled down. Rosalie looked mad still, but with a glance at Bella, Kira felt reassured. She had a small smile on her face, directed at Kira. Kira did feel slightly betrayed by her sister for not sharing this information with her, but she didn't blame her. It wasn't Bella's secret to share.

Then Edward spoke up again. "Not just that. She also knows about what happened to Charlie."

At this information though, nobody spoke up. They all looked shocked, as none of them even knew exactly what had happened. All they had known was that there was another vampire that had been hunting on their lands, but they hadn't managed to meet this vampire yet. Bella just looked confused.

The Cullens took the rest of that morning just talking with Kira. They were more than happy to answer all of her vampire related questions, and thankfully nothing had changed between Kira and Jasper because of it, and Kira had answered all of their question on what she knew about the night of Charlie's death.

The Cullens had promised to help Kira catch this guy, and they spent the rest of the night coming up with plans. By the time they were done, both the Cullens and Kira were happy with where they had ended up. They were ready for this guy whenever he decided to turn up.


	12. Taking Action

**Taking Action**

It had been a few days since Kira had had her talk with the Cullens. Bella had come back to their house with Edward to start packing up Charlie's stuff, but she had instead chosen to just lock herself in her bedroom with Edward. This left Kira to do most of the packing, thankfully, with Jasper's help. 

Jasper seemed to ease the pain. Kira wasn't sure how things were going to play out, but she had spoken with her mother who had agreed to let the girls stay in Forks, as long as they were under the supervision of some of Charlie's friends. This left the two sisters in Forks for at least the rest of the year.

Kira wasn't ready to leave Jasper yet, and she knew that Bella wouldn't leave Edward unless she was dragged out of the small town kicking and screaming. Kira was concerned for Bella though. She had overheard a few conversations between her and Edward, and from the looks of it, Bella seemed intent on becoming a vampire too. Of course Kire had already had this conversation with Jasper, but they had both agreed that now was not the right time. They would have to make a decision later, after more had happened. But Edward on the other hand seemed to be having a hard time convincing Bella that she shouldn't be turned.

Jasper walked into Kira's room to find her lying sprawled on her bed. He could tell that she was still taking Charlie's death very hard, but her was doing everything he could to try and help calm her and lessen the pain. It seemed to be working though, because Kira had been crying less an less as the week progressed.

This did not calm Jasper though. It seemed that every time Kira began to feel calmer and less sad, a new emotion would take over. Anger. He knew it was directed towards the vampire that had killed Charlie, but Jasper did not know what to do in order to make Kira calm down. He was still afraid to bring up the topic of Charlie around her, as she was still rather fragile, but he was also scared of what this anger could do if it kept building up inside of Kira.

So the two of them both stayed quiet. They were still having conversations and spending almost all of their free time together, but they avoided all topic of Charlie and the killer, unless absolutely necessary. The Cullens had their plan in place, ready for him if he came, but since the Cullens had made their presence known to the killer, he had refused to show his face. But Kira knew he was still lurking nearby.

Days passed. Kira was looking better, but something still seemed off about her. She was no longer sad. Just angry. It seemed like anytime something did not go remotely her way, she would turn around ready to snap. She was a totally different person.

Kira was spending her evening at the Cullens house. It had been Jasper's idea, and he had been hoping to make her feel better, surrounded by a bunch of other people who could sympathize with what she was going through. But he knew it was a long shot, and she knew that everyone else knew that as well. They still tried to make an effort nevertheless.

Alice had gone into the kitchen to retrieve the food that Esme had cooked for the girls earlier, but as soon as she left the room, the whole household heard the sound of glass shattering. Running into the room, Kira saw Alice standing there, with her back to the family. The glass bowl that the salad was once sitting in, was now shattered on the ground, along with the salad. Alice did not move.

Kira glanced at Jasper for an explanation, and he quietly whispered to her that Alice was having a vision of the future. Kira head Edward gasp, and from looking at him it wasn't hard for her to tell that he was looking into Alice's mind to see her vision.

Edward turned towards the family, announcing, "He's here. He's at your house." His eyes made contact with Kira's, before sliding towards Bella.

Kira didn't know what to do. Her father's killer was in her house. He was looking for the girls so that he could finish the job.

"Well? What are we waiting here for? We need to get to the house!"

Kira sprung into motion, attempting to run towards the front door, in order to reach her car and drive home, but Jasper grabbed her arm before she could. He wrapped his arms around Kira's torso in order to keep her in one place, and stop her struggling.

Carlisle chose that moment to walk forwards, gaining the attention of the rest of the room. "We need to send a few people to the house. Jasper and Edward will stay here with the girls."

This time it was Bella's chance to speak up. "No! He killed our father! I'm not going to let you leave me behind!"

Kira had to agree with Bella, but the vampires were all shaking their heads. They wouldn't allow the girls to go.

Kira sighed. "Fine." she said. She turned to Jasper. "I need to go to the bathroom." she stated, before walking towards the stairs and up to the bathroom. 

Once there, Kira locked the door. She heard Jasper talking to the rest of the family, before the door opened and closed, signalling their departure. She then heard Jasper's footsteps coming up the stairs and heading towards his room. He was waiting for her.

But Kira would have to keep him waiting. Remembering what she did last time, Kira opened the bathroom window. She slowly and quietly climbed out of the window, and reached out towards the tree. This time she got down safely, and ran as fast as she could towards the cars. 

Of course the rest of the family had not taken the cars, they could run much faster than they could drive. Kira climbed into a car, picking the one that she knew had the quietest engine. She turned the key, before pulling out of the driveway with as much speed as she could, without causing a commotion. She couldn't let Jasper hear her before she was close enough to her house that he wouldn't be able to stop her.

Kira had almost reached her street by the time her phone rang. Glancing at it, Kira was not surprised to see Jasper's name popping up on the screen. She had been expecting this, but chose not to answer it. Jasper did not need to know, he would realize soon enough.

Kira pulled up to the house. Inside she could see the rest of the Cullens. It seemed like everyone was on edge, but Carlisle was just standing straight up. He seemed to be talking to someone, and Kira had a fair guess of who it could be.

She quickly ran down the side of the house, heading for the back door so that hopefully they wouldn't hear or see her enter. She should have known that you couldn't sneak up on a room full of vampires though. As soon as the back door was open, all of the vampires seemed to appear in the kitchen at once. They were all looking at her. Even the dark haired man from her dream.

She froze. She hadn't thought this plan through, and now Kira was deeply regretting having not stayed with Jasper and Bella back at the Cullens house. She had been safe there, but now everything was up in the air. Jasper was not there to protect her anymore, and there was a very dangerous vampire with a look in his eye that said that he would do anything to get his hands on her and her blood.

Up close, Kira couldn't help but notice a few smaller details on the man. He had a scar going up his left cheek, and his hair was messy and filled with dirt. He also had a murderous twinkle in his eyes. The kind Kira had expected a vampire to have, but had yet to see. The Cullens did not have that scary twinkle, and Kira had never felt this frightened in any of their presences. 

Just this man's stare was enough to have Kira shaking in fear. It was enough to have her frozen on the spot, wishing that she had never even come to Forks in the first place.

The man took a step towards Kira while she was frozen. She noticed him lick his lips, causing her to take a step away from him. At this movement though, the whole Cullen family had jumped in front of Kira. They had pushed her behind them and seemed to be growling at the mystery man.

He only chuckled though. He seemed amused by the situation when in reality Kira figured that he should be almost as scared as she was. A whole coven of vampires were standing in front of him, ready to attack at any sudden movement.

"You haven't even let me introduce myself yet." the man pointed out, the smile never leaving his face. He gave Carlisle a pointed look, but Carlisle shook his head.

"You have said enough." Carlisle's voice was sharp and clear.

The man only grinned. "Nonsense. It is only polite."

Kira was beyond shaking at this point. All she could do was sit and wait. Hope for Jasper to come and save her once again.

"My name is Dylan, young lady." He spoke. His voice smooth like honey, but had a sharp edge to it. It gave Kira the shivers just listening to him speak. He smiled the biggest smile yet. It looked wrong on his face though. Such a big smile, almost happy looking if in a different situation. But instead, it made him look crazy.

"And I am the man who killed your father."


	13. Learning Lessons

**Learning Lessons**

All Kira felt was anger. It consumed her entire being, spreading throughout her body like a wildfire. This man. This man had killed her father, and he had mentioned it as if he were just talking to an old friend confirming plans for later that day. This man had killed her father, and he did not have an ounce of remorse written in his expression.

This made Kira livid. How was it that she was meant to feel all these emotions, sadness, grief, sorrow, and yet, this man standing before her, felt nothing. Before she could realize what she was doing, Kira let her emotion get the best of her. She felt herself lose control of her body, her emotions carrying her across the floor of her house, towards the man she hated.

Her body lunged across the floor, her arms outstretched to make contact with his body. It was only halfway through her lunge, when she was unable to stop herself, did she feel herself regain movement of her body again. Unable to stop herself, she was forced to watch as her body flung itself towards possibly the most dangerous man in Forks.

Kira's arms made contact with Dylan. Only, not in the way she had originally planned when her body had flung itself across the room. Instead of knocking Dylan over with the sheer force and speed of her lunge, Kira was forced to watch as Dylan side stepped her advancing body. He grabbed hold of Kira's arm, his icy cold hands wrapping around them as if he were catching a baseball bat that was passed to him. 

Once in his hands, Dylan flung Kira to the side. Using all of his vampire strength, Kira crashed into the wall, partially crashing through the window. If it had not been for Jasper, who had shown up with his immense timing to catch Kira as she dangled through the broken glass.

After giving her one more lasting look, Jasper turned to join his family. All of whom were advancing upon Dylan. A murderous look had appeared in their eyes after he had injured Kira. She had been accepted into their family already, even after having only known them for a short period of time, and he had hurt a member of their clan. For this, the Cullens knew that he would have to pay.

As the Cullens advanced upon Dylan though, his once cocky expression seemed to change in a heartbeat. Within the span of a few seconds, Dylan had gone from a cocky, overconfident nightmare to a scared and frightened person. The Cullens did not seem to care though, as they proceeded forwards, to rip him limb from limb.

Kira could not have this. No matter how angry she was, or how much revenge she wanted from Dylan, she could not have his death on her conscious too. She would never forgive herself, even if he had hurt her in unimaginable ways.

With that last thought, Kira surged forwards. Her mind already made up. "Stop." she spoke calmly. All of the Cullens turned to her with a look of confusion. They did not understand Kira's decision. To them it seemed easy, and as if this is what Kira had wanted this whole time. But it was different to Kira.

She continued walking forwards, until she was standing between Dylan and the Cullen family. "You can't kill him."

If only Kira had known that this act of kindness would do nothing but more harm to her. As she got her last words out, she felt an immense pain surface from her arm. Looking down, she could only see Dylan's pale hand, slowly but surely attempting to remove her limb from the rest of her body.

"You want to feel what it's like to kill a vampire?" Dylan whispered softly in her ear, but of course, all of the Cullens heard him as well. Kira felt her skin tear even further, letting out a long and loud scream as the pain came to it's fullest. It was at this action, it seemed, that all of the Cullens burst into action.

Jasper lunged forwards, tackling Dylan to the ground, as Kira was flung way. Unfortunately for her, she had the bad fortune of once again being flung into a wall. This time though, Kira was not lucky enough to have someone save her from the full impact. She crashed into the wall, hitting her head against the wood planks with a force only a vampire could create. Everything was spinning. The whole room was going in and out of focus, and Kira could not bring herself to focus on any one thing for too long.

She was, however, able to still hear the screaming, although now it wasn't just her. The screams seemed to be a combination of her's and Dylan's, both blending into one, horrible duet. As the time went on, and Kira continued to lay there, on the cold hard ground, a bonfire was slowly being built outside, and soon enough Dylan's body was being burned in her backyard.

Kira couldn't take the pain anymore. It was all becoming too much for her to handle. The stress since she had gotten to Forks had seemed non-stop, and kira wasn't sure if she could take it anymore. Shew asn't sure if she could handle staying in Forks, or even in this world anymore. Maybe, she thought, she shouldn't be struggling to stay awake for Carlisle to check her out anymore. Maybe she could just let all of her stress go. Leave it behind and never come back.

But Kira knew that she couldn't do that. She had to stay. She had to manage. For her mother, her sister, Jasper. She had to think about others. She was no longer the same girl she was three years ago. She had to think about how her actions impacted her friends and family now. She had to _care_. And Kira knew that it would be worth it. Because, even if she hadn't had to worry about any of this when she was fighting with her family, she had been so lonely then. She hadn't realized how much she had missed having people close to herself, until she had let them back in. Reintroduced them to her life and herself.

And Kira wouldn't go back if she had to. She had made her decisions, and she was satisfied with them. In fact, she was more than satisfied. She was happy. And that was all that mattered. She had made amends with her sister, and she was no longer fighting with her father. Her mother and her were still working on strengthening their relationship, but Kira was satisfied. She had made progress, and had begun to go back to her life before all of the fights and anger.

Kira wouldn't go back because she had met Jasper. Jasper had changed her life. He had played one of the key roles in getting her to open up to her family, and without him, Kira may have never been able to patch up the pieces of her broken relationships. Jasper was the reason she was happy. He had mended her heart, and had allowed her to even open up to the possibility of new relationships, with him and his family, everybody at school, and hopefully more in the future.

Jasper had taught her that she didn't need to be afraid anymore. He had taught her that she could handle herself just fine, and, although she had managed by herself, she was always better when she surrounded herself with supportive people. People who understood her, and were able to help her, no matter the tough times she was going through. It was for those reasons that Kira knew she had to stay alive. She had to thank Jasper for all that he had done, and show him that his efforts hadn't been for nothing. Show him that she could be a better person, when surrounded by the right people. And she knew that she wouldn't always be approached by the right people, but now she wasn't afraid to seek these people out herself.

Kira pushed herself to stay awake. She _had_ to stay awake. Kira forced her eyes back open, looking into Jasper's concerned ones. She couldn't bring herself to move her body, but instead just focused on making the house stop spinning, and listening to what Dr. Cullen had to say.

He seemed to have a worried expression on his face, the rest of the Cullens also mirroring this face. Kira tried to tune into their conversation, putting all of her energy into listening to what Carlisle was trying to say. At first Kira could only catch bits and pieces of what he was saying, but eventually Kira caught a comprehensible line.

Carlisle was speaking to Jasper. "It may be the only option. You might need to turn her. Without my equipment, I don't know the full extend of her injuries."

It was with this sentence that Kira understood what was happening. As Jasper moved over to her side, Kira knew that she had to make this decision quick. Speak up before anything happened that she might regret. But Kira wasn't sure what she wanted. For a second, she let her mind wander tot he possibility of the rest of eternity with Jasper. Them getting married, moving into their own house together, travelling the world. Kira thought about this life, knowing she would be content with the possibility of spending the rest of her never-ending life with the man next to her.

Yet, Kira couldn't bring herself to let it happen. At least, not until she was one hundred percent on board. So she mustered up all of her last bits of strength and energy, and spoke to him.

"No. Jasper, I don't want this."

This caused Jasper to jolt back, but something in his eyes softened. It was as if he didn't want her to be turned either. He wanted to spare Kira from the horrors that he had had to endure in his eternal life.

They shared a smile, both content to be together in this moment.


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Kira smiled, looking around at everything she had created. Her family, all standing around her as they said their final goodbyes. 

Her husband, whom she had met after leaving Forks. He had helped her through many tough times, and they had both quickly fell for each other. Growing old together and never spending any time apart, Kira had found her life partner. She loved him, as he loved her.

Together, they had raised a beautiful family. They had three irreplaceable children, that had all grown into very successful adults. They were always around for each other, and supported each other when needed. Kira and her husband had raised them to love and respect each other, as well as others.

Once her children had grown up, they had even given Kira grandchildren, which Kira adored to no end. Although they were still young, she hoped that they would always remember her, even when she wasn't there to see them anymore.

Unfortunately, Kira had lost contact with her dear sister, Bella. Her and Bella had left each other on very pleasant terms. They had spent their last few months together working on mending their relationship, and at last things were back to normal for them. However, something had changed within Bella. She was no longer the shy, clumsy girl that Kira had known. She became obsessed with Edward and becoming a vampire. She couldn't stand the thought of not being with Edward for eternity, and would do anything to achieve an immortal life with him.

This had always annoyed Kira. Although she was sure that Edward cared for Bella as much as Bella cared for him, she agreed with Edward on the matter of turning Bella. Kira believed that Bella could still achieve the same amount of happiness with someone that she could grow old with. However, Bella had ignored and dismissed Kira, anytime she had brought up the subject. Any chance Kira originally thought she had, of convincing Bella of a different path, were wiped away after Bella had set her mind to it.

Kira had accepted this, but had eventually lost all contact with Bella, as she was moving around a lot, and could no longer age. At first this had been hard for Kira, but she had accepted it eventually.

Overall, Kira would not have changed anything, even if she could have. She had lived a long, full life, and she was happy. She was happy with the way her life had turned out, happy with all of the decisions she had made, and happy with everyone who had and was in her life.

Kira had not seen Jasper since she left Forks. Although at the time she loved him deeply, she no longer felt as strongly about him in that way. She still loved him, but now she could confidently say that he was just a friend. He had been an important part of her life, helping her to mend her relationships, but Kira knew that a friend was all he was, even though they both still had deep feelings towards each other. Kira and Jasper had left each other on good terms, both sad about their relationship coming to a close, but overall, Kira believed that they were both grateful. Their time together had taught Kira a lot, and now both Jasper and herself were able to find another person who could give them all that they wanted.

Jasper still crossed Kira's mind sometimes, but now it was no longer sadness that tainted these thoughts. Kira was able to see everything good that their relationship had brought her, and she could not bring herself to feel sad that it ended.

As Kira prepared herself to close her eyes for the very last time, she thought back on everything she was grateful for. The beautiful family that she had created, her loving father who had supported her every step of the way, her husband who had always been there for her, her sister who had put just as much effort into mending their broken relationship as Kira had, and Jasper. Jasper who had helped show her all of the different paths she could take, and who had given her the freedom to choose where she wanted to end up.

Kira's eyelids began to close, saying goodbye to the world and everything she had known, for a final time. As Kira's vision darkened, the last thing she caught sight of, standing next to her wonderful family, was Jasper's gorgeous honey-blond hair and alluring golden eyes.


End file.
